Moratorium on Commercial Evictions
Updated: Mar 27, 2020
On March 17th, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti ordered a moratorium on commercial evictions of tenants unable to pay rent due to circumstances related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
According to the Mayor’s Executive Order “No landlord shall evict a commercial tenant in the City of Los Angeles during this local emergency period if the tenant is able to show an inability to pay rent due to circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic. These circumstances include loss of business income due to a COVID-19 related workplace closure, child care expenditures due to school closures, health care expenses related to being ill with COVID-19 or caring for a member of the tenant’s household who is ill with COVID-19, or reasonable expenditures that stem from government-ordered emergency measures.”
Additionally, Los Angeles County officials announced a moratorium on all no-fault residential and commercial evictions, starting retroactively on March 4 and lasting until May 31. Tenants will have six months after the end of the emergency proclamation to pay for lost rent.
These measures come after California Governor Gavin Newsom released Executive Order N-28-20, to be effective March 16, 2020 to aid both residential and commercial tenants.
The order states, “(i) The basis for the eviction is nonpayment of rent, or a foreclosure, arising out of a substantial decrease in household or business income… (ii) The decrease in household to business income or the out-of-pocket medical expenses described in subparagraph (i) was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, or by any local, state, or federal government response to COVID-19, and is documented.”
CLICK HERE to read Governor Newsom's Executive Order in full