COVID-19 Emergency Small Business Eviction Relief Act.

Existing law provides that a tenant is guilty of unlawful detainer if the tenant continues to possess the property without permission of the landlord in specified circumstances, including when the tenant has violated the lease or rental agreement by defaulting on rent, and requires the tenant be served a 3 days' notice in writing to cure the default, as specified. Existing law provides that an unlawful detainer action is subject to the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020, which provides tenants with specified temporary protections from eviction, if the default in the payment of rent is based upon COVID-19 rental debt, as defined. This bill, the COVID-19 Emergency Small Business Eviction Relief Act, would, until July 1, 2025, require a landlord, who receives a statement signed by a commercial tenant, as defined, and supported by documentary evidence that evidences that the tenant requests emergency rent relief because the business of the commercial tenant has experienced a decrease in average monthly gross revenue of at least 50%, which is reasonably attributable to public health regulations adopted to address the COVID-19 pandemic, during the qualifying time period, as defined, as compared with the 12 months immediately preceding the qualifying time period, to conduct a good faith negotiation to form a plan to allow the commercial tenant a reasonable opportunity to repay COVID-19 lease debt while minimizing the hardship to the landlord. The act would provide that failure by a landlord to comply with that requirement constitutes an affirmative defense in an unlawful detainer action.