Unlawful detainer cases resume in LA, problems for both sides remain

Although unlawful detainer trials are able to move forward in Los Angeles County courts after a seven-month moratorium, landlords don't know when they will be able to collect past-due rent and some tenants are worried about becoming homeless, their attorneys say.

The resumption order issued Friday by Presiding Judge Kevin C. Brazile prioritized criminal jury trials and noted most civil trials will be continued until January 2021 with nonjury trials resuming on or after Nov. 16. The order also noted certain unlawful detainer jury and nonjury trials are being scheduled, as well as small claims and traffic trials, juvenile dependency matters and family law evidentiary proceedings.

"Clients are happy to be able to get back to court, but the lingering problem is when the landlords are unable to collect rent payments for the foreseeable future," Jason M. Stone with Stone & Sallus LLP said Monday. "They have a need to collect the rents to make payments, to pay investors, to pay themselves, to live off these funds, so the big hit is although they still have access to the court, payments and collections are going to continue to be a big issue."

However tenants' advocate Elena I. Popp said, "Moving forward with evictions in violation of the very sound reasoning for keeping people housed that are articulated in the Center for Disease Control order is short sighted."

Popp, who is executive director of the Eviction Defense Network, "Our policymakers continue to be focused on balancing the rights of tenants against the rights of owners and that is an incorrect analysis. This is not about tenant and landlord rights, this is about the health risks associated with displacement and that we will never flatten the curve unless people have a way to shelter in place."

The resumption of unlawful detainer jury and nonjury trials is related to the passage of AB 3088, which protects tenants from eviction if they are able to provide landlords with declarations of pandemic-related hardships and pay at least 25% of each payment due between Sept. 1 and Jan. 31. The remaining balances must be paid in full next March, under the bill.

Stone said attorneys for landlords will find it hard to contest declarations of hardship presented by tenants.

"The statute was purposely drawn and drafted to provide relief for tenants, which is legitimate," Stone said. "Unfortunately, there are on occasion tenants who are taking advantage of that and submitting declarations under oath that are inaccurate, stating a financial hardship when they don't have to present much by the way of supporting documentation.

He asked, "Is a landlord going to go to court and try to disprove that? Unless you have independent verifiable evidence, it's a really difficult position."

Brazile's order gave additional details on the reasons for the continued delay in civil jury trials besides the 7,000-case criminal trial backlog that must be dealt with first. "Courthouses are not designed to facilitate social distancing given their fixed

Configuration," Brazile wrote. "Changing that configuration has security implications, affects the presentation of evidence, limits public access, and requires financial and other resources that the court lacks in light of the 10% reduction in its 2020-2021 fiscal year budget. In addition, the court's 2021-2022 fiscal year budget will be cut by an additional 5%."

Brazile noted that a typical civil jury trial with one witness testifying involves a minimum of 23 people: judge, judicial assistant, court reporter, 12 jurors and two alternates, plaintiff, plaintiff's counsel, defendant, defense counsel, and witness.

"While the court accelerated its plans to implement technology to allow judicial officers to conduct proceedings remotely, for legal, equitable, and logistical reasons, it cannot mandate remote appearances in every case," Brazile wrote. "Remote appearances in civil jury trials will create logistical issues with respect to jury selection, jury deliberations, and the handling of evidence."