California extends eviction protections for renters waiting on relief— if they apply by today
California lawmakers have extended protections for tenants still waiting for COVID-19 relief funds — but some organizers and legislators want more rental assistance and local control over eviction moratoriums.
The Senate voted 36-1 on Thursday to approve Assembly Bill 2179, which extends eviction protections through June 30 for those who recently applied for California’s rent relief program or still haven’t received the money they need to pay for their housing.
The Assembly approved the bill earlier in the week, and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis will likely sign it while Gov. Gavin Newsom is in Central and South America on spring break with his family.
Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, fast-tracked the bill through both legislative houses this week because the rental assistance program ends Thursday night.
Tenants who haven’t applied by that time will not be able to access relief funds and could be evicted.
Renters who have been financially impacted by the COVID pandemic and income qualify have been able to apply for money to help pay their rent and utility bills since March 2021. But the program is seriously backlogged, and most people who have applied are still waiting on their money.
Many tenants still waiting for relief funds
More than 506,000 tenants had completed state rental assistance applications as of Tuesday, according to a California Department of Housing and Community Development dashboard. Only 223,000 households — 44% of applicants — had received their money.
Those who support AB 2179 say they want the Legislature to do more to help tenants, but the bill is important to protect renters waiting for their relief funds.
“The truth of the matter is, we have hundreds and thousands of people living on the brink right now who are in the queue to receive rental assistance,” said Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, who co-authored the bill, before the Assembly vote. “And if we do not pass this bill today, that those promises will not be honored. So we need to move this bill forward, imperfect as it may be.”
The California Apartment Association has supported the bill, although the California Rental Housing Association has opposed it.
“This is now the fourth proposed extension of the eviction moratorium. Enough is enough,” said Kevane La Marca, CalRHA president, in a statement. “Some of our members have not received rental income for more than years and can no longer make ends meet.”
“More than half of the state’s rental housing providers are small mom and pop owners who are doing everything they can to pay the mortgage and property upkeep,” La Marca added. “By halting applications for those in need, and extending the eviction moratorium, rental housing providers are being forced to carry the financial weight of the pandemic and some of them will lose their properties as a result.”
Eviction protection bill criticism
The bill has also drawn criticism from some tenant advocacy groups and lawmakers because it doesn’t extend the state’s rental assistance program, and it pre-empts local, sometimes stronger, eviction protection measures.
Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, voted against the bill, but he called it a “Sophie’s choice” between protecting tenants waiting for relief and pushing for better overall solutions.
“We want to locally protect our renters,” Wiener said.. “I represent a community that is 62% renters. A lot of people continue to struggle from the pandemic. We’re doing better health-wise, but the economic damage that COVID has inflicted on many, particularly low-income families, continues. That is not over, and we should not be stopping cities from stepping in to protect renters who have been harmed by COVID.”
Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) Action protested the end of the rental assistance program on Wednesday at the Capitol.
Fernando Anguiano, an ACCE Action spokesman, said his organization wants to see the program extended and receive additional funding.
“We understand that we need to pass something, but what is being proposed is nowhere near enough,” he said.
Anguiano said tenants ACCE Action represents are still struggling to recover from COVID disruptions, especially those who were unable to work early in the pandemic and got behind on rent and other expenses.
ACCE Action would like to see the rent relief program extended through the summer or the end of the year. That would allow the state to get through its backlog and give tenants who’ve struggled to apply for the program more of a chance to seek relief, Anguiano said.
ACCE Action members want landlords to recoup their rent, but they also want to prevent “the ripple effects on our society” that come with people losing their housing, he said. The organization will keep fighting to help members, even after the rent relief program ends, Anguiano said.
“We know there’s going to be renters who need our help, and we’re going to be there for them,” he said.
This story was originally published March 31, 2022 at 9:42 AM with the headline "California extends eviction protections for renters waiting on relief— if they apply by today."