Department of Housing
Sunset the Local Moratorium on Eviction of
Residential and Commercial Tenants
Impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic
City Council
April 11, 2022
Department of Housing
BACKGROUND
City eviction moratorium in effect 3/17/20
• Landlords prohibited from evicting
residential tenants for a) non-payment of
rent due to impacts of COVID-19, or b) no-
fault eviction
• Commercial tenants also protected
• Tenants must repay any back-rent within 6
months of moratorium expiration
• Unless sunsetted at an earlier date,
moratorium will end upon Council
sunsetting the COVID-19 local emergency 2
Department of Housing
BACKGROUND
Federal protections
• CDC issued a number of nationwide orders
on 9/4/20 banning eviction of residential
tenants, but currently no federal
protections remain
State protections
• AB 3088 eviction ban for residential tenants
took effect on 8/31/20, expired on 9/30/21
• AB 2179 extends eviction protections
through 6/30/22 for tenants who applied
by 3/31/22 for Housing Is Key rent relief 3
Department of Housing
BACKGROUND
Local Jurisdictions
• Most local jurisdictions set the expiration of
their eviction moratoria to coincide with
the anticipated lifting of their local
emergency
• AB 2179 ends local eviction protections if
they were adopted on or after 8/19/20
(does not affect City’s Moratorium,
adopted on 5/18/20)
• Burbank and Glendale eviction moratoria
were lifted on 9/30/21 and experienced
only slight upticks in eviction cases
4 Department of Housing
BACKGROUND
Commercial Tenants in Pasadena
• Commercial real estate brokers contacted
by staff regarding the potential lifting of
the City’s eviction moratorium
> Tenants that were struggling financially moved
out
> In other cases, owners provided concessions to
retain tenants
> In general, owners and tenants have worked out
their issues over the past two years and lifting the
City’s eviction moratorium will have minimal
impact 5
Department of Housing
BACKGROUND
Residential Tenants in Pasadena
• Demand for Housing Rights Center services
increased by 23% from 2020 and 2021
• Rent relief was provided to assist COVID-
impacted renter households in Pasadena:
> City’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program -
$1M to 275 households (program completed
Dec. 2020)
> County of LA Rent Relief Program - $3M to 356
households (program completed June 2021)
> State Housing Is Key program - $17.1M to 1,422
households to date 6
Department of Housing
BACKGROUND
Sunsetting of City eviction moratorium
• Staff considered three options:
a) Lift residential/commercial tenant
protections immediately upon adoption of a
sunsetting ordinance – need time to
establish programs
b) Extend residential tenant protections
through 12/30/22 – necessity unclear
c) (as recommended) Adoption of a sunsetting
ordinance to: i) lift commercial tenant
protections at the time of ordinance
adoption, and ii) lift residential tenant
protections on 6/30/22 7
Department of Housing
BACKGROUND
Sunsetting of City eviction moratorium
• Evictions are anticipated to increase but
magnitude of increase cannot be
estimated
• To mitigate impacts on Pasadena renters,
programs totaling approx. $3.45M in
assistance are planned to be in place by
6/30/22 to provide additional HRC tenant
advocacy services, emergency short-term
rent assistance, and tenant-based rent
assistance for eviction prevention
8 Department of Housing
BACKGROUND
Protections after moratorium is lifted
• Six-month grace period to repay unpaid
rent
• TPO – not available in most other cities
• Just cause protections - state law AB 1482
> Landlords must have just cause to evict tenants
who have occupied a unit for at least 12 months
> Properties exempt from AB 1482
▪ Rental units built within the last 15 years
▪ Single-family homes and condominiums
> AB 1482 sunsets in 20309
Department of Housing
10 FISCAL IMPACT
• Approval of the staff recommendation will have no
direct fiscal impact on the City’s General Fund
Department of Housing
11 RECOMMENDATION
1) Find that the recommended action is exempt from
the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA")
pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines per Section 15061(b)
(3), the common sense exemption that CEQA only
applies to projects that may have an effect on the
environment;
2) Direct the City Attorney to prepare and return within 30 days with an ordinance that sunsets the COVID-19
eviction moratorium, Ordinance No. 7359: (a) for
commercial properties at the time of adoption
(anticipated to be in or around the middle of May,
2022); and (b) for residential properties on June 30,
2022.