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The Ontario City Council on Tuesday approved a temporary moratorium on evictions for nonpayment of rent by residential or commercial tenants adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The moratorium, which also applies to storage unit patrons, protects tenants who cannot make their rental payments for any of the following reasons:
- The tenant is unable to work while sick with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 or must care for a household or family member with a suspected or confirmed case of the virus.
- The tenant experiences a layoff, loss of hours or other income reduction resulting from COVID-19, the City’s local emergency declaration, or related government response.
- The tenant must miss work to care for a child whose school was closed in response to COVID-19.
The eviction moratorium builds on the protocol established by the state of California to prohibit the removal of residents at the very time they’re being instructed to stay in their homes. It
does not forgive rental payments, but provides breathing room for tenants who fall under one of the covered reasons while the City is under its state of local emergency. All missed rental payments are due to the landlord within six months of the emergency being lifted.
The moratorium provides tenants with a tool they can use in an unlawful detainer proceeding. It does not apply to eviction proceeding begun before the local emergency was declared. Tenants would need to provide verifiable documentation that they meet one of the qualifying standards. On March 14, Ontario was among the first cities in San Bernardino County to declare a local state of emergency and implemented a comprehensive COVID-19 emergency response plan to minimize the risk of exposure, anticipate potential vulnerabilities and act quickly and responsibly to any new developments.
For updates on the City’s COVID-19 response efforts, including the eviction moratorium, please visit: www.ontarioca.gov/coronavirus
