The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to allocate additional emergency funding to assist struggling renters and expand tenant protections during the COVID-19 crisis.
Supervisors Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis asked their colleagues to support setting up an emergency rental assistance program with Community Development Block Grant funds they hope will be provided as part of the next round of the federal CARES Act.
"As we fight the spread of this virus and do everything we can to save lives, this crisis has devastated families who were already living on the brink of poverty," Hahn said. "The eviction moratorium we have in place has provided some relief, but many families are going to struggle to pay back the rent they owe after this crisis is over."
The program as envisioned would provide rent subsidies of up to $1,000 per month for up to three months for families who have recently lost jobs, though the details have yet to be worked out. The overall level of funding will depend on how much money is allocated by the federal government and whether that can be matched, in part, by private dollars.
"We have to do everything we can to keep everyone in their homes," Solis said, pointing out that many renters were already struggling to make ends meet before losing jobs and potentially dealing with illness during the pandemic.
More than 55% of Los Angeles County residents are renters and the county has one of the lowest homeownership rates in the state, Supervisor Sheila Kuehl added.
"It is really critical that we help," Kuehl said. "This is also a way to help our landlords."
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The board directed the county's legislative advocates to press the federal government for more CDBG funds to be used for this purpose. Other staffers were directed to source private dollars to further boost the fund's capabilities.
On March 31, the board ratified a ban on evictions for non-payment of rent and also prohibited rent increases through the end of May in unincorporated areas of the county.
Solis and Kuehl co-authored a separate motion to expand protections to "preserve and increase housing security and stability and to prevent Los Angeles County residents from falling into homelessness due to this crisis."
The board voted 5-0 to extend the earlier ban on evictions to cover all jurisdictions in the county "to the extent permitted by state law" and "with considerations for cities that already have local eviction moratoria in place." How those considerations might modify the ban was not immediately clear.
The moratorium on evictions and rent increases now also covers mobile home owners in unincorporated areas who rent the space their homes occupy.
It also prohibits landlords from evicting tenants for housing pets or unauthorized persons during the COVID-19 emergency and extends the repayment period for rent from six to 12 months after the end of the moratorium.
"Even though renters impacted by COVID-19 won't be evicted for not paying their rent, they'll still have to pay back the rent that they owe," Hahn said during discussion of the rental assistance fund, calling that an almost impossible hurdle for some families to meet.
