FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
08/04/2020
Contact:
Reetu Mody – (510) 497-4162, rmody@centrolegal.org
Jesus Chavez – (559) 213-6841, jchavez@centrolegal.org
Alameda County Protects Tenants from Evictions Through At Least December 31, 2020
Housing is a human right and foundational for racial justice!
Alameda County, CA: Today, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, in a 3-2 vote, decided to extend eviction protections for all tenants in Alameda County through at least December 31, 2020. Protections against evictions will continue for 60 days after the local Alameda County public health emergency is lifted, but no sooner than December 31, 2020. Supervisors Valle, Chan, and Carson voted to pass the eviction moratorium extension. The law will become effective September 5, 2020 and will protect tenants from all eviction notices served or unlawful detainer complaints filed from March 24, 2020, through at least December 31, 2020.
Housing is foundational to human rights, racial justice rights, and health, especially during COVID-19. Tenants in Alameda County are struggling. Many are unable to pay rent. Others are getting sick, taking care of relatives or children, or having to focus on finding new sources of income. Many are unable to find new housing. Many have lost all income, including PUA benefits as of July 31, 2020. During the most significant public crisis of our lifetime and what will be the on-going future consequences, no one should have to worry about an eviction notice or be required to move out now. No one should be made homeless.
In addition, given this moment of racial outrage and demands for racial equity, led by communities like those in Alameda County, our economy is built on the backs of “essential workers.” Many of our essential workers are the same communities who disproportionately experience racial disparities in the economic and health costs, such as Latinx, Black, Hmong, Indigenous, Immigrant, and LGBTQ communities.
Reetu Mody, Tenants’ Rights Managing Attorney at Centro Legal de la Raza, a legal services agency protecting and advancing the rights of low-income, immigrant, Black, and Latinx communities through bilingual legal representation, education, and advocacy, said:
“Housing is where everything starts- family, education, safety, health, civic engagement, and community-building. Without protecting people’s right to stay in their housing at this time, people would face the worst brutalities of both the pandemic and racial oppression alone and unsheltered. We applaud the Board of Supervisors in taking a first step towards housing justice.”
This eviction moratorium protection ensures that children are not kicked out of homes and therefore losing their education during times of distance learning. It helps make it more likely that BIPOC, queer, immigrant, and other communities who have been oppressed are not left unsheltered and not given additional burdens that could prevent them from voting in the November 2020 election. This eviction moratorium is a preliminary step towards housing justice in the Bay Area and a model for all counties that say Black Lives Matter, voting is your civic right, education is a pathway forward, and that all people deserve dignity.
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