TITLE
Recommendation to request City Manager to work with the Department of Development Services to evaluate the feasibility of establishing, in accordance with state and federal auditing requirements, a single Emergency Rental Assistance application for landlords with multiple tenants in communities at elevated risk of eviction. This funding would cover past rental arrears and up to three months of future rental obligation for eligible tenants. Participation in this program should allow tenants whose rental debt was covered an additional 90 days of protection from eviction past the final date of payment of back rent, and
Direct the Department of Development Services to publicize data regarding the rental assistance program on a public dashboard.
DISCUSSION
Long Beach has been a leader among cities in the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Long Beach Recovery Act (LBRA), one of the first municipal COVID-19 recovery packages in the nation, secured the City more than $250 million in state and federal funding to address COVID-19.1 Among those dollars are the $64 million allocated by the state and federal governments to Long Beach’s Rental Assistance Program, which has spent over $18 million and helped over 2,500 households to date with rental and utility payments during the public health crisis. Long Beach’s program has been among the top-performing in California, receiving recognition from the US Treasury for efficient management and already outlaying approximately 29% of its total rental assistance award, compared to the state average of 22%.2 By comparison, neighboring Los Angeles closed its municipal rental assistance program at just 18% allocated, returning the rest of its money to the California Department of Housing and Community Development to operate the program on Los Angeles’ behalf. As a shining example among majority-renter cities in California, Long Beach should continue to innovate around lowering administrative burdens for eligible tenants a...
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