Sonoma County tenants, landlords face challenges as home evictions resume in pandemic

David Kiddoo, 58, sees the world in a different light with the threat of eviction looming.

The longtime Santa Rosa resident, a handyman with a disability who relies on Social Security, received a 30-day notice from his landlord in late August, days before eviction courts statewide resumed on Sept. 2.

Significant job losses early in the pandemic made it difficult for thousands of Sonoma County residents to pay rent, and they are still struggling in the absence of additional government aid. State and federal mandates had protected tenants affected by the coronavirus, physically or financially.

However, renters now can be evicted for causes such as lease violations after a statewide ban expired at the end of August. Some local property owners are taking action to do just that.

Kiddoo’s landlord accused him of growing cannabis on the property without a permit, an allegation that could force he and his two roommates out of the home Kiddoo has rented for the last decade.

He claimed it was a false accusation resulting from an error by the county. A code enforcement manager confirmed a grow operation was found at a neighboring home, but that didn’t necessarily absolve Kiddoo.

If a judge ultimately rules against him, his fear is he would become homeless.

“When I’m driving I look at bushes and I’m like, ’Wow, that might be a good place to sleep,’” Kiddoo said in an interview. “I think about that now.”

As Sonoma County deploys a new strategy to try to get the coronavirus pandemic under control in low-income neighborhoods, anxieties over housing security have resurfaced for some of the most vulnerable residents, stoking fears about the increased risk of virus exposure if they are displaced.

It’s the result of a complex plight due to the economic fallout of the ongoing pandemic, with some property owners absorbing months of unpaid rent and now exploring options for relief. A county staff report in August identified as many as 15,000 local landlords who could go months without receiving a full rent check.

Under California Assembly Bill 3088, a stopgap measure Gov. Gavin Newsom signed one day before eviction courts restarted, California renters are required to pay at least 25% of rent between Sept. 1 and Jan. 31, 2021. The remaining balance, including anything missed during the spring and summer, would still have to be paid, but there has been little guidance on how and when.

By mid-October, at least 52 eviction complaints were filed with Sonoma County Superior Court since the blanket state moratorium ended Aug. 31. Of those, 24 are set for a trial or court motion.

And county sheriff’s deputies have carried out at least seven evictions, according to a department spokesperson. The county had conducted none after Newsom issued a statewide shelter-in-place order March 19 and during his subsequent eviction moratorium that expired at the end of August, a CalMatters report found.

Some landlords have found ways to circumvent the pandemic protections for nonpayment, and threaten tenants with eviction.

That’s been the case for Louise of Santa Rosa, a furloughed caretaker who also looks after her husband’s elderly parents. She asked to be identified only by her first name, fearing being identified by her full name could jeopardize their chances at a future home.

Louise’s husband is in the entertainment industry, and both of them have been jobless for months, she said.

Her relationship with their landlord deteriorated this summer when it became a struggle to pay $3,000 rent at a three-bedroom home they’ve lived in for more than six years. When talks to try and negotiate a payment plan failed, their landlord tried to enter the home multiple times unannounced, one time triggering a health scare for her bed-bound mother-in-law, Louise said.

She and her husband thought they had to take precautions and changed the locks after that episode, she said. But changing the locks was a violation of their lease. Now they’re in county eviction court fighting to stay put, with a trial scheduled for Thursday.

“It’s scary. I never thought I’d be in this situation,” Louise said. “I have disabled family to take care of, and I don’t know how I’m going to do that.”

For Keith Becker, owner of DeDe’s Rentals, one of the region’s largest property management firms, this is the most complicated time in 26 years in the business.

Apart from property foreclosure protections, there has been little support for landlords, Becker said. They’ve been forced to absorb thousands of dollars of short-term losses with little recourse, and navigate constant changes to laws and regulations.

But “the idea of evicting in this environment is stress-inducing,” Becker said. “The bar you have to leap over is very, very high.”

He disputed the scale of the evictions taking place across the county. Of his roughly 480 occupied properties, which cover a broad range of income levels, 11 households are struggling because of the pandemic, Becker said.

“I have tenants who are suffering and been genuinely impacted, but I also have tenants who are playing games with me,” he said.

The housing hotline at Legal Aid of Sonoma County was averaging up to 40 calls per day in August before AB 3088 was signed into law, executive director Ronit Rubinoff said. Since then, the office is getting about half that amount, which is still a high number, she said.

Her fear is the indigent population is growing more than the community realizes. Researchers at Columbia University found that 8 million people nationwide have fallen into poverty since May because of the pandemic, with those numbers worsening since Congress has been unable to agree on additional federal financial relief.

Rubinoff said she doesn’t have an issue with evictions, so long as they’re done with just cause. It’s the tenants who lack resources and may not know their rights that she worried are most susceptible.

“It’s reinforcing the cycle of poverty,” Rubinoff said. “The people on the edge most affected by loss of income are then impacted by a loss of housing and then impacted by greater health risks.”

Without broader protections, many of the estimated 6,000 area households at risk of eviction still could be displaced, according to a recent report by the Bay Area Equity Atlas and North Bay Organizing Project, a Santa Rosa-based civil rights group.

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors last month allocated $2.4 million for a rental assistance fund, but elected not to strengthen eviction protections in early August before the state ban expired.

The county, state and federal government have ensured renters are safe from being displaced solely for nonpayment for the duration of the declared public health emergency. But in the absence of sturdier regulations that offer paths to rent repayment and close loopholes, the struggle between some landlords and renters will continue.

Dr. Sundari Mase, the county’s health officer, is in favor of broader eviction protections since displacing residents from their homes makes it harder for them to follow public health protections during the pandemic such as social distancing.

“People are already suffering from all kinds of factors,” Mase said. “I don’t think we need to add another major issue and problem.”

You can reach Staff Writer Yousef Baig at 707-521-5390 or yousef.baig@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @YousefBaig.