NOTE: The Tenant and Small Landlord Relief Act of 2020 (AB 3088) went into effect on September 1st which includes eviction protections that apply to all residential tenants, including mobilehome tenants, regardless of immigration status. This new State law establishes new noticing requirements for Landlords.    Learn more at housingiskey.com

In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic and State and county “stay-at-home” and other emergency orders, on March 24, 2020, Hayward City Council enacted an Emergency Ordinance establishing a temporary moratorium on evictions in the City of Hayward for non-payment of rent caused by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic, or for no-fault evictions and providing tenants and landlords mediation services to negotiate payment agreements. On April 7th the temporary moratorium was expanded to prevent displacement of residential and commercial tenants impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, mediation services are only available to negotiate repayment of rent for residential properties.

By completing this questionnaire, Tenants or Landlords can request assistance negotiating reduced rental amounts during the moratorium period and/or repayment of unpaid rent during the moratorium period. All personal information provided will be kept confidential and not reported to any funding source or government agency.

Process overview:

Step 1:    Tenant or Landlord submits this form to request mediation assistance.

Step 2:    Project Sentinel will contact the Requesting Party within 48 hours and assign the case to a professional mediator.

Step 3:    The assigned mediator will first contact the Tenant and the Landlord by phone. The mediator will talk with both parties separately on the phone and may use phone or video conferencing to speak with both parties at the same time.

Step 4:    If an agreement or plan is reached, the mediator will put the plan the parties agreed to in a form.

Step 5:    Project Sentinel will send the completed form to both parties to sign.

The mediation program is fast, free and confidential!

If you have questions about filling out this form or submitting a request for mediation you can contact Rent Review Office staff at 510-583-4454 or by email at housing@hayward-ca.gov .

City Hayward Housing Division - Links to further information and resources.

If you were unable to pay all or some of your rent between March 1, 2020 and August 31, 2020:

• If your landlord gives you a notice to "pay or quit," it must a 15-Day Notice and must explain your rights and obligations and list the amounts and dates of rent due and rent unpaid. (A notice to "pay or quit" is a notice from your landlord that gives you a certain amount of time to pay the outstanding rent you owe or vacate your home.)
• At the same time the landlord must provide you an unsigned "Declaration of COVID-19 Related Financial Distress" form. The form must be in the language of your rental agreement.
• You cannot be evicted for this unpaid rent IF you sign and return a declaration of COVID-19 related financial distress (signed under penalty of perjury) and return to the landlord within 15 business days of receiving a notice to "pay or quit."

*It is very important that you provide the signed declaration within 15 business days of receiving the Notice to Pay or Quit or an eviction proceeding may be filed against you.*

You can find the Declaration form (in multiple languages) here: https://landlordtenant.dre.ca.gov/tenant/forms.html

If you are unable to pay all or some of your rent between September 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021:

• All of the same rights and obligations above apply. The Landlord must serve you with a 15-day notice and unsigned declaration form and you mist sign and return the declaration form within 15 business days.
• In addition, by January 31, 2021, you must pay at least 25% of the rent due during the period of September 1, 2020 through January 31, 2021.

If you are financially impacted by COVID-19 do these things, the landlord cannot evict you based on rent not being fully paid between March 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021.

If the tenant did not pay all or some of their rent between March 1, 2020 and August 31, 2020:

• Landlord must serve a Notice for Code of Civil Procedure Section 1179.04(a) by September 30, 2020 (This notice informs the tenant of their rights and obligations under AB 3088)
• A Notice to Pay or Quit served for unpaid amounts during this period, must be a 15-Day Notice and must contain certain information. This info is included in the State’s form on its website (below).
• The 15-Day Notice must be served with an unsigned “Declaration of COVID-19-Related Financial Distress”. (The form must be in the language of the rental agreement.)

 
If does not pay all or some of their rent between September 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021:

• All of the same rights and obligations above apply. The Landlord must serve a 15-day notice and an unsigned declaration form.
• In addition, by January 31, 2021, the tenant must pay at least 25% of the total rent due during the period of September 1, 2020 through January 31, 2021.

If the tenant returns the Declaration (signed under penalty of perjury) to you each time you serve a 15-day notice and unsigned declaration form and pays at least 25% of the rent due during the period of September 1, 2020 through January 31, 2021, they have fulfilled their obligations to be protected by AB 3088. This means they cannot be evicted based on rent not fully paid between March 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021.

The tenant still owes the rent, however, and the Landlord is free to take other legal actions to collect, once the repayment time period has ended.

All of these forms can be found (in multiple languages) here: landlordtenant.dre.ca.gov/landlord/forms.html 

and here: landlordtenant.dre.ca.gov/tenant/forms.html (for the declaration)