Law Office of David M. Daftary

For nearly two weeks, thousands of California businesses have been forced to close their doors because of Governor Newsom's "stay at home" order. In the coming days, rent will be due for most of these businesses. Unfortunately, many business owners will struggle to pay rent while their businesses remain closed. There's been a lot of media coverage about eviction moratoriums that have been enacted by the State, as well as by Counties and Cities. ... On March 27th, Governor Newsom signed an Executive Order declaring an eviction moratorium. However, this moratorium applies only to tenants of "residences and dwelling units," not commercial or industrial properties. Some public entities in our area have enacted similar moratoriums to protect local businesses affected by COVID-19 and government orders to close. So far, these jurisdictions include: - The City of San Diego - The County of San Diego (applies to unincorporated areas only) - Oceanside - San Marcos - Chula Vista Each municipality has different "notice" and "documentation" requirements for business tenants who need the protections of these moratoriums. Of course, these new moratoriums only provide more time for affected businesses to pay their rent. They do not provide for "rent forgiveness" for the period that a business is closed. Please take good care of yourselves and stay healthy. David

There have been a lot of news reports over the past few weeks about Federal and State tax filing and payment deadlines being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For those of us in California, one tax payment deadline remains the same: Property Taxes. Our second installment of annual property taxes was due on February 1st, but taxpayers traditionally have until April 10th to pay without any late penalties being assessed.... By law, the decision to postpone the April 10th deadline cannot be made by the County Treasurer-Tax Collector or the County Board of Supervisors. It must be made at the State level. I looked at the websites of several County Treasurer-Tax Collector offices throughout Southern California. All of them have advised that the deadline to pay without penalty remains April 10th, even if their offices are closed. They are encouraging people to pay their taxes on-line or by phone. Unfortunately, some of the websites have inconsistent information. On the COVID-19 page for the San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector, one of the paragraphs begins: "The delinquent date of April 10 will not change." But further down on that same page, in the "FAQ" section, I found the following: "Should the county offices close for business by ordinance or resolution beyond the April 10th tax deadline, then the delinquent date shall be the next business day that the offices are open." (Just FYI - None of the websites from any of the other counties I looked at had a similar message about the delinquent date being postponed until the offices reopen). If you are able to pay your property taxes on or before April 10th, you should definitely do so. The County can always look at postmark dates and the date/time of on-line payments to see whether the payment was made after April 10th, and may still assess penalties if the payment is deemed "late." There are procedures in place for requesting a waiver of penalties, but those must normally be done after April 10th. Right now, penalties cannot be waived due to economic hardship, but efforts are being made to change this rule. I'll keep you posted on whether there are any changes to the Property Tax deadlines in the coming weeks. So please be sure to look for more posts on this page. Please take good care of yourselves and stay healthy. David

Due to the "Stay at Home" order issued by the Governor of California, we are operating on a remote basis. In the days ahead, look for Facebook posts on this page with information about new laws and orders that may affect you during the current COVID-19 situation.