SLO County COVID-19-Related Ordinances and Orders
On March 18, 2020, the County of San Luis Obispo issued Local Emergency Order and Regulation No. 3 (the Local Emergency Order), temporarily suspending evictions of tenants who are unable to pay rent because of COVID-19. The order also temporarily suspends “no fault” evictions. These changes are explained in more detail below.
The San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Office also issued a statement stating local sheriffs would not be enforcing residential evictions until May 31, 2020.
The Local Emergency Order makes it a misdemeanor for a landlord to knowingly proceed with an eviction against a tenant because that tenant cannot pay rent due to “financial impacts related to COVID-19.”
Some examples of inability to pay rent because of financial impacts related to COVID-19 include:
- Being sick with COVID-19 or caring for a household or family member who is sick with COVID-19
- Lay-off, loss of hours, or other income reduction resulting from business closure or other economic or employer impacts of COVID-19
- Compliance with a recommendation from a government health authority to stay home, self-quarantine, or avoid contact with groups
- Extraordinary out-of-pocket medical expenses related to COVID-19
- Child-care needs caused by school closures related to COVID-19
The Local Emergency Order states that a landlord knows about the financial impacts related to COVID-19 when the tenant explains to the landlord within 30 days of the date rent is due, in writing (which can be an email or text if communications are normally through email or text), that the tenant cannot pay rent because of COVID-19. The tenant must also submit documentation of the financial impacts to support their claims.
The landlord may still seek to collect any rent which remains unpaid after expiration of the Local Emergency Order. The tenant must then pay that unpaid rent within six (6) months of the expiration of the Local Emergency Order, but the landlord may not collect any late fees.
The Local Emergency Order also makes it a misdemeanor for a landlord to knowingly proceed with a “no fault” eviction against a tenant. This is an extra protection special to San Luis Obispo only and NOT part of Governor Newsom’s March 27, 2020 statewide order banning certain evictions (Executive Order N-37-20).
A “no fault” eviction is an eviction that isn’t based on any fault or violation of the tenant. Some examples of a “no fault” eviction include an owner move-in eviction or an eviction after a tenant’s lease term has expired. This also means that if a tenant previously gave notice to their landlord that they would move out at some point during this time period, and if that tenant does not move out when they said they would, the landlord cannot serve the tenant with an eviction notice or an unlawful detainer lawsuit
The Local Emergency Order remains in effect until May 31, 2020 until further notice.