The Santa Clarita City Council voted Tuesday to extend the eviction moratorium and rent payback period they instituted at the end of March in an effort to help protect residents impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 31, 2020 the City Council adopted an urgency ordinance temporarily prohibiting evictions of residential, commercial and manufactured home tenants arising from financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During their meeting Tuesday, the council considered whether or not they should repeal this ordinance in order to allow a similar ordinance issued by Los Angeles County to take over.

One Santa Clarita landlord called in during the public comments section, opposing the turning over of powers to the County instead of making an extension within.

“This city was founded December 15, 1987 to separate ourselves from the Los Angeles County,” said local landlord Steve Petzold. “I object, you should not consider this at all. You are passing the buck.”

Since March 31, the County has twice amended their order, increasing the rent payback period from six to 12 months, extending the eviction moratorium period to June 30, clarifying that the commercial tenant protection applies to small businesses, and extending the applicability of the order to those cities in the County that do not have their own eviction moratorium.

Instead of repealing Santa Clarita’s moratorium, it was voted to be extended, protecting renters against evictions until June 30 and extending the period to pay back rent from six to nine months.

“People are going to start recovering and start paying their rents in the short term,” said City Councilwoman Marsha McLean. “I would hate to see a family evicted because they could have paid their rent back over a little longer time.”

The extension was approved unanimously. The moratorium is set to be revisited at a future council meeting before June 30.

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