The California Senate overwhelmingly endorsed a proposal Thursday for a fourth extension of the state eviction moratorium, granting a reprieve to renters awaiting relief from the state’s beleaguered and backlogged assistance program.
The law extends protections past an April 1 deadline and through June 30 for hundreds of thousands of California tenants who have applied to the state’s emergency rental assistance program but who have yet to receive aid. The law also offers landlords some protections by banning a raft of new proposals by cities and counties to enact local restrictions on evictions.
Researchers estimate at least 366,000 California renters have applied and are waiting for state aid.
The bill now goes to Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who is expected to sign the measure into law in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s absence while he is on vacation. The emergency bill, AB 2179, needed two-thirds approval from lawmakers, and passed overwhelmingly in the Assembly on Monday and the Senate on Thursday.
Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, cast the lone vote against the extension. Wiener, chair of the senate housing committee, said the extension was important but pre-empted other possible local protections. Many California renters, he said, “continue to struggle.”
Lawmakers enacted a broad moratorium early in the COVID-19 pandemic, seeking to keep families from becoming homeless during the health crisis. The moratorium was extended three times, gradually offering fewer protections and finally only to renters in the $5.2 billion Housing is Key assistance program. The program is expected to receive additional funds, but will stop taking applications at midnight March 31.
The moratorium has been a flashpoint for tenants and landlords. Renter advocates say more time and money is needed for struggling, low income families to get on firmer financial ground. Landlords say too many tenants are taking advantage of the protections, and small owners are challenged to pay their mortgages and make needed repairs.
Both sides agree the assistance program, built from scratch to quickly deliver billions of dollars to landlords, has been confusing, opaque and fraught with delays. Still, the state has distributed $2.6 billion to 223,000 renter households since it launched last March.
The protections only prevent evictions for nonpayment of rent from the start of the pandemic through March. Landlords can serve tenants papers to pay or leave if they miss April’s rent, even if an application for relief is pending. Property owners generally can also remove tenants over health and safety concerns or if they are taking a home or apartment off the market.
The extension stirred anger and disbelief among advocates for landlords and tenants.
The California Rental Housing Association, a collection of mostly small landlords with few units, argued against another extension. Small, mom and pop landlords have struggled with non-paying tenants, often taking a chunk out of their revenues and hindering their ability to pay a mortgage or improve their building.
Tenant advocates say the financial impacts of the pandemic have not completely abated, and many low-wage workers have seen their incomes reduced. The state unemployment rate was 5.4% in February.
Local eviction bans are still apply in Oakland and Alameda County, although landlords have sued to stop them.
