Mayor Bass and Councilmember Raman Announce Tenant Rights, Resources and Investments Ahead of COVID Rent Debt Repayment Deadline

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Los Angeles Mayor Bass and LA City Council Representative Nithya Raman.

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LOS ANGELES — Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman July 27 released resources for Angelenos to stay indoors ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline for payment of back rent for the first 18 months of the COVID emergency period. These efforts follow investment and action by the city and nonprofits to protect Angelenos from eviction.

Under previous tenant protections during the COVID-19 pandemic, tenants have until Aug. 1, to pay any missing rent due between March 1, 2020 and Sept. 30, 2021. For rent due between Oct. 1, 2021 and Jan. 31, 2023, tenants have until Feb. 1, 2024 to pay the missing rent.

Mayor Bass released the following resources and protections, as well as provided updates on public information campaigns:

Public Information Campaigns

The mayor’s office and the Los Angeles Housing Department launched a public information campaign to get the word out about new protections and resources for Angelenos:

  • Audiences were targeted in high-risk zip codes as identified through Stay Housed LA in a range of different languages. Smaller landlords and renters in newly protected units, including post 1978 construction and single-family homes were also a part of the campaign outreach.
  • Paid advertisements about protections ran on radio and in community papers. Languages included Spanish, Korean, Mandarin, Armenian, Tagalog, Farsi, Russian, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Thai. Ads also ran on taco trucks.
  • Ads ran on social media platforms, resulting in more than 150,000 clicks, as well as on neighborhood organizing platforms like NextDoor, which led to more than 1 million impressions.

The mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles — an independent nonprofit that works across the private and philanthropic sectors to support Mayor Bass’ vision for L.A. — has shifted focus and is committing its resources to the critical work of homelessness prevention.

  • The organization’s new “We Are LA,” program, a coordinated, community-wide effort to reach and help at-risk Angelenos stay housed, has recently begun. We Are LA supplements government efforts, and integrates community-led intensive outreach and case work with access to all services Angelenos may be eligible for, and access to available legal services, so that we can meet people where they are, with the help they need the most.
  • Outreach teams have already connected with nearly 41,000 Angelenos and made case management appointments with more than 10,000 Angelenos.
  • In the coming weeks the program will reach tens of thousands more Angelenos, and will work to connect them with the critical services they need to stay housed. By the end of September, We Are LA aims to have connected with more than 200,000 Angelenos.

Information For Renters

  • Even though back rent is due on Aug. 1, tenants who followed certain protections under state law cannot be evicted for the past due rent. If one of the below applies, the landlord can collect the rental arrears in court as consumer debt, but cannot evict the tenant for this debt:
  1. The tenant provided their landlord a Declaration of COVID-19 hardship form within 15 days of rent due for rent owed from March 1, 2020 through August 2020.
  2. The tenant provided their landlord a Declaration of COVID-19 hardship AND paid 25% of their rent for rent owed from Sept. 1, 2020 through Sept. 20, 2021
  • Annual rent increases are prohibited through Jan. 31, 2024 for rental units subject to the city’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance or RSO. If you receive an illegal rent increase, please report it to the Los Angeles Housing Department. If you believe you have received a rent increase in violation of the rules, please file a complaint by calling 866-557-7368. A rent increase calculator for the current year is available here.
  • The city council and mayor approved a minimum threshold for evictable rent debt, which means tenants who owe less than one month of back rent (as set by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department Fair Market Rent for L.A.) cannot be evicted on the basis of late rent.
  • ALL residential rental units in Los Angeles now officially have “just cause” protections, meaning a landlord cannot evict a tenant without declaring a legal reason for eviction. For more information about “just cause” protections, click here. In non-RSO units, these protections kick in after six months or at the end of the first lease term, whichever comes first. If you’ve already been in your apartment for six months today, you’re protected.
  • Tenants who receive a rent increase of more than 10% within a 12 month period and are unable to afford the rent increase have the option to receive relocation assistance to move out of their rental unit.
  • For all at-fault evictions, landlords must file notice with the Los Angeles Housing Department within three business days, including stating legal reasons for eviction. For all no-fault evictions, landlords must file notice with the Los Angeles Housing Department, submit required fees, and pay the tenant relocation assistance. For more information about relocation assistance, click here.
  • All landlords of residential properties must provide a notice of renters’ protections to tenants who begin or renew their tenancy. This notice must also be posted in an accessible common area of the property. For more information, click here.

Additional Information & Resources For Renters

Who Can You Contact For Help?

  • The Los Angeles Housing Department has opened public counters for direct assistance (by appointment only). To see a full list of locations and make an appointment, click HERE, or call 866-557-7368.
  • Contact your local representative in the city council. Find more information here.
  • StayHoused LA regularly hosts tenants rights workshops reviewing your rights and protections — sign up to attend an upcoming workshop here.

If you receive an eviction notice:

Tenants should:

If you are experiencing harassment from your landlord*:

Tenants should reach out to:

*Renter harassment can take many forms, including refusal to complete required repairs, threatening physical harm, asking about immigration status, and more. To see a full list of what qualifies as renter harassment in the City of Los Angeles, click HERE.

Emergency ULA Renter Assistance

The mayor’s office has proposed to utilize Measure ULA dollars to fund rental assistance programs. The ULA funding plan will come before the city council’s housing and homelessness committee on Aug. 2nd, and to the full city council soon after. These proposed expenditures include:

  • $18,400,000 for a short term emergency assistance program that will allow eligible low-income tenant households to apply for up to six months owed back rent due to a one time economic hardship. Priority eligibility shall be established for lower-income households.
  • $23,000,000 for the eviction defense/prevention program, to continue and expand the Stay Housed LA (SHLA) program, a partnership with the county, legal service providers and community organizations, that provides tenant households at risk of eviction, with legal support, “know your rights” education, and in limited cases, rental assistance through settlements with their landlords.
  • $5,520,000 for a tenant outreach and education program and campaign to provide broad and targeted tenant education outreach services, including workshops, legal clinics, paid and earned media, and targeted social media.
  • $11,219,694 for a protections from tenant harassment program. Funds will be allocated for infrastructure, technology, and community outreach, to educate tenants, as well as landlords, about their rights and obligations, and to enforce protections against tenant harassment. The city adopted the Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance (TAHO) (effective Aug. 6, 2021) to protect tenants from harassment by landlords.

The $150 million approved in the city’s FY23/24 budget will only be available to spend on programs as it comes to the city as revenue. To date, $38 million in ULA revenue has been raised. On Aug. 1, 2023 and Feb. 1, 2024, restrictions on landlords’ ability to evict tenants for back rent due during COVID will be lifted. The Los Angeles Housing Department has recommended that ULA spending focus initially on the short-term emergency assistance program to prevent as many potential evictions as possible, as well as tenant outreach and education in order to best ensure that tenants are aware of these deadlines and their rights, and the eviction defense/prevention program to provide eligible at-risk households with legal support.

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