IN THIS
EDITION
  • Daniel's message to rental housing providers
  • We share a rent forbearance agreement tailored for Oakland
  • A recap of our riveting conversation on Berkeley's response to COVID-19
  • The policymaking arm of the judiciary issues new rules that grind most evictions to a halt
  • A replay of a modified webinar on handling the dual threat of COVID-19 and hoarding
The Chief Justice of California, Tani Cantil-Sakauye, recently said, “we are at this point truly with no guidance in history, law or precedent.” That may be true, but there are some timeless principles we can rely on.

We have always said that our goal is not to enlarge a landlord-tenant dispute and that litigation is not like a sporting event where one side wins and another team loses.

We urge some latitude for those tenants who have expressed a hardship related to COVD-19 and remind owners that rather than elongating a drought of rental income and risk getting no rent at all, it is better to be diplomatic. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

While some of you availed our  suggested verbiage  to broach a difficult conversation in San Francisco, we have prepared a templated  rent forbearance agreement in Oakland .

Pivoting to Berkeley, we have published slides  from Thursday’s roundtable discussion hosted by our friends at the Berkeley Property Owners Association.To get a more global perspective on how owners and managers can deal with this pandemic, you can watch our earlier, modified webinar .

Finally, we  share updates  on California’s judiciary, which for all intents and purposes have ground to a halt and has frozen all evictions unrelated to serious health and safety concerns.

There will be more changes and we remain committed to keeping you in the know, but one constant is our core competency in managing relationships, a skill set that will prove all the more important in times of adversity. 
Oakland Rent Forbearance Agreement

From the outset of the pandemic, we have urged compassion for tenants who have been impacted, but this latitude must be reconciled with the nuances of local ordinances and executive orders. Here is a buttoned up agreement for affected Oakland residents.
A recap about our discussion in the BerkeleySphere

Daniel was privileged to join a roundtable discussion hosted by the Berkeley Property Owner's Association, an excellent grass roots trade association that represents rental housing providers throughout the city and one we recommend you join.
A judiciary that has retreated into the dark
The policymaking body of the California courts issued a series of new rules to ensure the pandemic doesn't interfere with due process, but in so doing, puts evictions on ice. We provide some bulleted points and share their guidance here.
Play it again

We modified our original video on handling the dual threats of coronavirus and hoarding in rental units.
Precaution, planning and communication are the order of the day. Bornstein Law can facilitate.

This is a fluid situation. Follow us on Facebook to stay informed.