California landlords can’t evict tenants while the state fights coronavirus under an executive order Gov. Gavin Newsom issued Friday. The ban will be in place through May 31, 2020. The moratorium allows tenants who cannot pay their rent because of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus spreading through the state. It requires tenants to tell their landlord in writing that they can’t pay their rent because of the pandemic within a week after their rent was due.