TITLE
Recommendation to receive and file a presentation on current rent assistance programs and resources for tenants and landlords. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
On March 7, 2023, the City Council requested the City Manager work with the Development Services Department (Department) to provide a report regarding current rent assistance programs and resources available, as Los Angeles (LA) County’s COVID-19 Tenant Protections Resolution (Resolution) expired on March 31, 2023. Although the Resolution expired, certain tenant protections remain in effect. The following report is a summary of general protections; further details will be provided in a forthcoming memo to the Mayor and City Council, and presentation.
Los Angeles County’s COVID-19 Tenant Protections Resolution
The Resolution, formerly known as the LA County Eviction Moratorium, which went into effect March 4, 2020, provided certain protections to residential tenants, commercial tenants, and mobile home space renters affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in LA County. The Resolution was last amended on January 24, 2023, and was extended through March 31, 2023.
The Resolution prevented evictions for non-payment of rent due between July 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023 (Rent Protection Period) due to a COVID-19 financial hardship, for tenant households with an income at or below 80 percent of the Area Median Income. For tenants who utilized this non-payment of rent protection or with tenants with unauthorized occupants or pets, the following protections are being extended beyond March 31, 2023:
· Protections against no-fault evictions, except for qualified owner move-ins
· Qualified tenants that had notified their landlords before March 31, 2023 of their inability to pay rent during the Rent Protection Period, and made a payment plan, would not be evicted and remain protected after the expiration of the Resolution. Such residential tenants have up to 12 months to repay any past due rent that was accrued during the R...
Click here for full text