Legislative & Legal Alerts

Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on April 4, 2020 expanding consumer protection against price gouging as California continues to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The order generally prohibits sellers of any kind from increasing prices on food, consumer goods, medical or emergency supplies, and certain other items by more than 10 percent. The order also gives additional tools to the California Department of Justice and Attorney General’s Office, among others, to take action against price gougers.

“This crisis has impacted every Californian and our normal way of life, and we are ensuring that all consumers are able to purchase what they need, at a fair price,” said Governor Newsom.

Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order on March 30, 2020 banning the enforcement of eviction orders for renters affected by COVID-19 through May 31, 2020. The order prohibits landlords from evicting tenants for nonpayment of rent and prohibits enforcement of evictions by law enforcement or courts. It also requires tenants to declare in writing, no more than seven days after the rent comes due, that the tenant cannot pay all or part of their rent due to COVID-19.

The tenant would be required to retain documentation but not required to submit it to the landlord in advance. And the tenant would remain obligated to repay full rent in “a timely manner” and could still face eviction after the enforcement moratorium is lifted. The order takes effect immediately, and provides immediate relief to tenants for whom rent is due on April 1^st.

Today’s action builds on Governor Newsom’s previous executive order authorizing local governments to halt evictions for renters impacted by the pandemic. 

 A copy of the Governor’s executive order can be found here and the text of the order can also be found here.

On Thursday, March 19, 2020 Governor Gavin Newsom announced a statewide Executive Order for people to stay at home. The directive went into effect immediately. A copy of the Executive Order can be found here.   

Notably, the Executive Order references the  guidance issued by Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with an initial list of “Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers.”  A copy of that memorandum can be found here.  In addition, the Order states  the Governor in consultation with CAL OES, may designate additional sectors as critical.