While eviction protections are extended; landlords are included in a $2.6 billion stimulus package
Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors voted to extend the eviction moratorium through the end of February. The vote (held Tuesday) was unanimous in the decision to extend the protections for renters facing eviction for unpaid rent. California is expected to soon follow suit with state law, possibly extending protections through the end of 2021.
On Wednesday, President Biden – on his first day in office – signed an executive order extending federal protections through March. Federal protections allow tenants to avoid eviction if they notify their landlords, though all back rent is due immediately once the program expires.
The motion passed in Los Angeles County also clarified what landlords can and cannot do. For example, it protects renters who are facing eviction because they denied a landlord’s non-emergency request to enter their unit.
Currently, state law protects California tenants if they are able to pay at least a quarter of the rent they’ve owed through January 31st.
Santa Monica also extended their residential eviction moratorium to March 31st while preferential parking enforcement resumed at the beginning of January.
Last month, a U.S. Census bureau survey found that nearly 2 million adult Californians living in rental homes reported being behind on their rent.
State court officials estimate that landlords are expected to file 240,000 new eviction cases – twice what occurs in a typical year – if the state’s eviction protections are not extended.
Additionally, California tenants and landlords are in in line to receive $2.6 billion in rental assistance from the coronavirus stimulus package approved by Congress last month. The average amount of back rent owed by each renter is around $7,000.
