SANTA MONICA—The city of Santa Monica extended its eviction moratorium until September 31, as announced in a press release on July 15.
“As COVID-19 continues to spread, impacting the livelihoods of our community members and small businesses, we continue to extend our local eviction moratorium to keep people in their homes or tenancy,” said City Manager Lane Dilg.
The moratorium, originally instituted to end 60 days after March 18, has repeatedly been extended as the COVID-19 shutdown continues. It was first extended to the end of April, then May, June, and July, the moratorium now applies to residents until September 31. For eligible commercial tenants, the eviction moratorium is in place until August 31.
The eviction moratorium forbids landlords from evicting residents for non-payment of rent, but still requires renters to pay the deferred rent within 12 months of moratorium’s end. It also forbids landlords from charging interest on unpaid rent.
For commercial tenants, the extended moratorium only includes non-profits and small businesses. Any companies that are multi-national, publicly traded, employ over 100 people, or have earned over $15 million in the past 3 years will not be eligible for the moratorium.
The eviction moratorium was extended via the 22nd supplement of Santa Monica’s declaration of a local emergency. The extension aligns Santa Monica’s eviction moratorium policy with California law.
