Today, the Judicial Council voted 19-1 to end two temporary
emergency rules governing evictions and judicial foreclosures
after September 1. In the announcement, California Chief
Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye stated that “the duty of the
judicial branch is to resolve disputes under the law and not to
legislate” and urged the Legislature and Administration to work
“expeditiously” to resolve the looming crisis. As noted in
last week’s
CSAC Bulletin, the Legislature is currently considering
bills related to COVID-19 eviction and foreclosure protections.
The circulating order approved by the Council is available
here.
The Judicial Council previously instituted two emergency rules
related to evictions and judicial foreclosures on April 6. The
eviction rule prohibited the issuance of summons or entering of
default judgments in unlawful detainer actions unless the case
involves public health and safety issues, and provides that
trials be set at least 60 days after a request for trial. The
foreclosure rule stayed all judicial foreclosure actions brought
under Code of Civil Procedure section 725a et seq., tolls the
statute of limitation for such actions, and extends all deadlines
of electing or exercising any rights related to such action.
These two emergency rules were initially set to expire 90 days
after the Governor lifts the COVID-19 state of emergency. The
Chief Justice had emphasized the temporary nature of
the emergency rules
emergency rules and stated that it is more
appropriate for permanent measures and solutions to be considered
by the legislative and executive branches.
As of September 2, 2020, unless the Legislature enacts law
providing otherwise, courts will once again be authorized to
issue summons on all unlawful detainer actions, enter defaults
and issue writs of execution when appropriate, and set trial
dates on request, subject to Code of Civil Procedure section
1170.5.
Like the proposed change to emergency rule 1 above, as of
September 2, 2020, unless the Legislature provides otherwise,
stays on pending judicial foreclosure actions will be lifted and
any deadlines in such actions will no longer be deferred.
