Q: If Landlord CAN issue “no-cause” notice after emergency period expires, Tenant cannot rely on grace period for extension
Please clarify: If a Tenant who did not pay rent during COVID emergency period becomes current on rent payments after the emergency period expires, Tenant cannot rely on 6-month grace period to extend tenancy since Landlord can simply issue “no-cause“ termination notice to get Tenant moved out by 11/1/2020, correct?
A: A tenant can rely upon a 6 month grace period to re-pay rent owed and accrued, but unpaid, during the Covid emergency and cannot be terminated/evicted because they have not paid rent during that emergency. A tenant does NOT have a 6 month grace period from being terminated/evicted for any other reason/no reason, the same as it always is. IF a landlord attempts to terminate a tenancy under a no cause notice AND the tenant can prove that it is really because of non-payment of rent during Covid, the tenant presumably has a possible defense to the no-cause termination. But the tenant has the burden to prove that was the real reason and risks having an eviction on his rental record, plus owing the landlord's court costs and possible attorney's fees (which can well be over $10,000 if taken to trial) IF they lose. Exactly what hoops the landlord has to jump through, and what dates are applicable, in issuing a no cause termination notice depends upon how long the tenant has been there and what city or area the rental dwelling is located in. And, of course, if the tenant has been there more than a year, even a no-cause notice can only be issued for a permitted reason - of which there are only a few.
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