City Of West Hollywood: City Of West Hollywood COVID-19 Update: Los Angeles County Extends Residential Tenant Protections

Press release from the City of West Hollywood:

January 29, 2022 10:52 AM

The City of West Hollywood is getting the word out that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, on Tuesday, January 25, 2022, took action to extend renter protections for residential tenants due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic through December 31, 2022.

There are two phases during the extension period:

Phase I (February 1 – May 31, 2022):

Los Angeles County’s action extends protections to residential tenants in West Hollywood through May 31, 2022 by continuing the residential moratorium for:

In addition to the limited allowance for owner/relatives to move into a unit, an eviction may be authorized when a tenant’s occupancy is a threat to public health and safety.

Under state law, neither Los Angeles County nor the City of West Hollywood has the authority to extend non-payment of rent protections to residential tenants until April 1, 2022. Starting April 1, 2022, landlords will again be prohibited from evicting residential tenants for nonpayment of rent incurred on or after April 1, 2022, if due to COVID-19 financial hardship. Under the County’s reinstated COVID-19 eviction moratorium, eligible tenants will be able to self-certify their financial hardship. To be protected, tenants must give landlords notice of their inability to pay within seven (7) days after rent or other charges are due. A tenant who is unable to pay rent incurred from April 1, 2022 through May 31, 2022 has until May 31, 2023 to repay such debt.  A tenant cannot be evicted because of the tenant’s inability to pay back unpaid rent under the terms of a payment plan, or at the end of the repayment period.  

Phase II (June 1 – December 31, 2022):

All protections of Phase I will remain in place during Phase II except that, starting June 1, 2022:

During Phase II, a tenant whose household income is at 80 percent AMI and was unable to pay rent incurred from April 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022 shall have until December 31, 2023 to repay such debt. An income qualified tenant cannot be evicted because of the tenant’s inability to pay back unpaid rent under the terms of a payment plan, or at the end of the repayment period.

Residential tenants who fell behind in their rent during the pandemic or are continuing to struggle to pay their rent may be eligible for non-payment of rent protection provided they apply to the state rent relief program, Housing is Key.

Under the state rent relief program, a landlord is eligible for 100 percent of unpaid rental debt of eligible households accumulated after April 1, 2020. The expanded program also includes financial assistance for prospective rent payments for eligible households. To receive payment, the landlord must give up the right to evict an eligible tenant based on COVID-19 rental debt. Furthermore, landlords and residential tenants who previously participated in the program may still be eligible to recover any remaining unpaid rent.

In addition, through March 31, 2022, courts will only allow an eviction case based on non-payment of rent for COVID-19 related reasons to proceed if the landlord has attempted to obtain rental assistance to cover the unpaid amount and the application has been denied or more than 20 days has passed without any indication that the tenant will cooperate in the application process.

Information regarding the Housing is Key rent relief program and links to applications for landlords and tenants may be found at housing.ca.gov.

Additionally, information about the City of West Hollywood’s COVID-19-related rental assistance programs can be found on the City’s website by visiting www.weho.org/services/social-services/financial-assistance.

For more information about the City of West Hollywood and residential eviction protections, please contact Jonathan Holub, City of West Hollywood Rent Stabilization Manager, at (323) 848-6301 or at jholub@weho.org. For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, please call TTY (323) 848-6496.

The City of West Hollywood remains in a declared local emergency in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. West Hollywood City Hall is open for in-person transactions by appointment. Visitors to City Hall and City facilities are required to adhere to vaccine verification requirements. Click here for details. To make an appointment, visit www.weho.org/appointments. City Hall services remain accessible by phone at (323) 848-6400 and via the City’s website at www.weho.org. City of West Hollywood coronavirus information is available at www.weho.org/coronavirus.

For up-to-date news and events, follow the City of West Hollywood on social media @WeHoCity, sign up for news updates at www.weho.org/email, and visit the City’s calendar of meetings and events at www.weho.org/calendar.

slunn@weho.org

This press release was produced by the City of West Hollywood. The views expressed here are the author’s own.