City of San Diego’s New 2021 Eviction Moratorium

Authors: Tanya M. Schierling and Jing Y. Li

Updated: 2/3/2021

Landlords and tenants have been struggling to navigate the ever-changing legal landscape of various government eviction and rent collection ordinances enacted during this pandemic. Last week the City of San Diego passed a new eviction moratorium, which applies not only to residential tenants but also to commercial tenants within City limits. The moratorium became effective this Monday, February 1, 2021.  

The moratorium affects no eviction actions that were filed and pending on or before February 1, 2021. The moratorium as applied to commercial tenants extends to June 30, 2021, and gives tenants six months thereafter to pay any rent that came due during the protective period. The moratorium may be ended sooner with a declared end of the local state of emergency or may be extended.

The moratorium does not apply to “large” commercial tenants and only applies to tenants with 100 or fewer full-time employees and annual gross receipts of less than $3 million.

Like similar prior ordinances, to invoke the ordinance’s protection, the tenant must provide written notice to its landlord within 7 days after the rent is due, stating its inability to pay due to the financial impacts of COVID-19.  The landlord has the right to request additional financial information to verify the statement.

 If you have questions regarding this latest moratorium please contact us.

***The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and not to provide legal advice. Contact your attorney to obtain advice regarding any particular issue or problem. ***