Contra Costa County extends eviction moratorium, but drops big businesses from the protection plan

Contra Costa County’s temporary ban on evictions of residential and commercial tenants affected by the COVID-19 pandemic will continue through part of the summer, but county supervisors are tightening the rules on who is eligible for those protections.

The ordinance, which bars landlords and sublessors across the county from kicking out tenants who fail to pay rent if they can show they lost income or have “substantial” medical expenses related to the coronavirus pandemic, will be extended from May 31 to July 15.

As it relates to commercial property, the new ordinance narrows its protections for businesses deferring rent payments. It will allow only small businesses, nonprofits and smaller manufacturers to delay rent payments if affected by the sheltering order — including just those that are independently owned, have 100 or fewer employees and whose average yearly gross receipts are not more than $15 million over the past three years.

Larger businesses, who were eligible for rental deferment in the original ordinance passed last month, will have until the end of July to pay the April and May rent, if they were not able to make the payments to their landlords on time.

The changes came supervisors have heard from property owners who said sometimes their commercial tenants have been better off financially than themselves yet were not paying rent.

Steve Cortese, of Cortese Investment Company, noted that while he and other property owners are working with tenants who have been hard hit financially, “some are larger than us with larger balance sheets, and some aren’t impacted and are able to pay rent.”

He added that under the ordinance passed last month, “we are required to subsidize them.”

Under the new ordinance, small businesses and home renters will have 120 days after the ordinance expires in July to pay back their rent, and landlords cannot levy late fees in that time frame.

The ordinance also prevents landlords from increasing rents through July 15 at apartments built more than 15 years ago.

State law prevents the county from imposing rent freezes on residences built within the past 15 years, houses, owner-occupied duplexes, hotels, senior or adult residential care facilities, school dorms, group housing, townhouses or condos that are not owned by a corporation, investment trust or limited liability companies. The county also cannot impose the rent freeze on commercial properties, although the original ordinance included that, as it violates state civil code, according to a memo from the county’s legal counsel.

Renters and their advocates have urged supervisors to extend both the ordinance and the grace period even longer for residential tenants, noting that without any income, some tenants’ rent debt is piling up into the thousands, which will be difficult to pay back even when they return to work.

One Contra Costa County resident who spoke during public comment, Gabriela Hernandez, told supervisors she has lost her income — which she normally earns as a housekeeper — for two months because of the sheltering order. She urged the board to extend the ordinance until at least 30 days after the county’s sheltering order is lifted and the grace period for paying back rent to a year.

“My biggest fear is losing my home,” said the single mother of two, noting that by the end of the sheltering order, she will owe more than $4,000 in back rent. “That amount of money is impossible to come up with in four months.”

While District 1 Supervisor John Gioia, who represents much of West Contra Costa County, including Richmond, said he supported extending the grace period, other supervisors said they would like to revisit the issue in the summer, when the ordinance is set to expire.

“I think it’s important that landlords don’t see this as an indefinite process,” said Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Candace Andersen, who represents District 2, including Danville, Alamo and Lafayette, among other cities.

“We’ve got to have a conversation about this every month,” urged District 4 Supervisor Karen Mitchoff, who represents central Contra Costa including Pleasant Hill and Concord.