In order to help renters struggling financially due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Ontario City Council has adopted a moratorium on evictions for residential and commercial tenants.
Ontario is following nearby cities of Upland and Rancho Cucamonga, which have passed similar measures. However, Ontario went a step further Tuesday, April 7, by including customers who rent storage units.
City Councilman Ruben Valencia said putting a hold on storage units being taken away for non-payment of rent and possibly having the items sold or trashed will help the city’s homeless population.
“A lot of our homeless individuals utilize storage units for their property. My fear is they will get hit very hard (without the temporary ban),” Valencia said during the City Council meeting.
The urgency measure puts a hold on evictions for non-payment for as long as the local emergency is in place. Ontario adopted a local emergency on March 14 and extended that on Tuesday “until further notice.”
A landlord or storage unit owner cannot begin court eviction proceedings nor serve a notice of eviction for nonpayment, nor stop a customer for accessing stored items, during the emergency period.
City officials stressed that the temporary ban does not relieve the tenant or storage unit customer from eventually paying unpaid rent or storage fees. The city ordinance says back rent or storage costs can be collected by the landlord or business owner within six months of the expiration of the local emergency.
The tenant can have rent deferred and not face eviction for the following reasons:
• Unable to work while sick due to a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19
• Must care for a household or family member with a suspected or confirmed case of the virus
• Experiences a layoff or reduced hours or other income reductions resulting from the pandemic emergency
• Must miss work to care for a child whose school was closed due to the emergency
The ordinance will protect the public health by not creating more homeless people from evictions and by not moving items from a home or a storage unit, something “not feasible due to the governor’s stay at home order,” stated a city report.
It also intends to give breathing room to commercial tenants and thereby “prevent the displacement and closure of local and small businesses,” stated the urgency ordinance.
The United States has experienced a record 10 million layoffs in the two weeks leading up to Thursday, April 2, according to the Associated Press. Millions more are expected to file for unemployment by the end of this week, as non-essential businesses close and others take indirect hits from the closures.
While the City Council voted 5-0, Councilman Alan Wapner was concerned that the ordinance, supported by the governor’s order authorizing a temporary ban on evictions, does not provide protection for owners of apartments and single-family unit rentals. Without rental income, these owners may not be able to pay their mortgage and could be foreclosed upon.
“If someone owns a house and doesn’t get the rent, the tenants are out, so we don’t accomplish anything,” he said through a phone hook-up. “I want to address the lienholder as soon as possible.”
The city’s ordinance went into effect Wednesday, April 8. But the City Council has asked City Attorney Scott Huber and City Manager Scott Ochoa to bring back amendments that will examine effects to the property owner and possible protections.
In addition, Ochoa said the city’s utility is stopping all water shut-offs during the local emergency.
Ontario City Council will next meet on April 21. The meeting will not be open to the public due to stay-at-home orders. The majority of the City Council and key staff were in the Council Chambers Tuesday but none from the public. The public must consult the city’s website for call-in procedures.
For information about the coronavirus crisis, visit sbcovid19.com. The public can also call San Bernardino County’s COVID-19 hotline, 909-387-3911, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or email coronavirus@dph.sbcounty.gov.
