Board unanimously adopts amended resolution urging statewide eviction moratorium, leaves Ellis Act protections in focus

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors adopted an amended resolution on March 24 urging California Governor Gavin Newsom to issue a moratorium on residential evictions, including those under the Ellis Act, during the state of emergency related to the COVID‑19 pandemic.

Supervisor Preston moved and described amendments after reporting that the San Francisco Superior Court had temporarily stayed eviction cases for 90 days and that Mayor London Breed’s fifth supplemental order already restricts no‑fault evictions. "We work closely with the mayor's office and are very pleased that we were able to come to agreement and get that taken care of," Preston said, and he proposed removing language urging immediate judicial or mayoral action where those actions were already in process.

With the amendments adopted and without further objection, the Board passed the resolution unanimously. The clerk announced "There are 11 ayes." The adopted resolution retains its call for gubernatorial action to establish a broad moratorium on residential rent and mortgage enforcement, and it explicitly urges a moratorium that would include Ellis Act evictions.

Context and clarifications: Supervisor Preston said the mayor's fifth supplemental order and the Superior Court's 90‑day stay had already provided significant protections against no‑fault evictions in San Francisco; the Board's amended resolution therefore narrows its transmittal list and focuses on state action for a broader moratorium, including protections related to the Ellis Act.

Next steps: The resolution was adopted as amended on March 24 and will be transmitted as the Board directed in the amended version. Public comment was reopened briefly after the vote; no additional callers addressed the Board on the matter before the comment period closed.