(KMJ) – Governor Newsom and legislative leaders announced that the current eviction moratorium will be extended through September 30, 2021.
$5 billion in federal rental assistance will be used to help state tenants and small landlords and protect vulnerable households from eviction.
The agreement widens rental assistance by increasing reimbursement to 100% for both rent that is past due and future payments for both tenants and landlords.
Governor Gavin Newsom:
“I am thankful for today’s news from the Legislature – protecting low-income tenants with a longer eviction moratorium and paying down their back-rent and utility bills – all thanks to the nation’s largest and most comprehensive rental assistance package, which I am eager to sign into law as soon as I receive it.”
The bill also ensures the assistance money stays in California by prioritizing cities and counties with unmet needs.
Listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern:
The three-party agreement on AB 832 – which extends the current eviction moratorium through September 30, 2021 – will ensure that California quickly uses the more than $5 billion in federal rental assistance to help the state’s tenants and small landlords and protect vulnerable households from eviction. The agreement widens rental assistance by enhancing current law. Provisions include increasing reimbursement to 100 percent for both rent that is past due and prospective payments for both tenants and landlords. Additionally, the bill ensures rental assistance dollars stay in California by prioritizing cities and counties with unmet needs, and uses the judicial process to ensure tenants and landlords have attempted to obtain rental assistance.
Governor Gavin Newsom:
“California is coming roaring back from the pandemic, but the economic impacts of COVID-19 continue to disproportionately impact so many low-income Californians, tenants and small landlords alike. That’s why I am thankful for today’s news from the Legislature – protecting low-income tenants with a longer eviction moratorium and paying down their back-rent and utility bills – all thanks to the nation’s largest and most comprehensive rental assistance package, which I am eager to sign into law as soon as I receive it.”
Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego):
“Our housing situation in California was a crisis before COVID, and the pandemic has only made it worse — this extension is key to making sure that more people don’t lose the safety net helping them keep their home. While our state may be emerging from the pandemic, in many ways, the lingering financial impact still weighs heavily on California families. People are trying to find jobs and make ends meet and one of the greatest needs is to extend the evictions moratorium—which includes maximizing the federal funds available to help the most tenants and landlords possible—so that they can count on a roof over their heads while their finances rebound.”
Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood):
“The key thing is to recognize that people in rental housing are still facing financial obstacles, even as our economy reopens. This moratorium will keep families in homes, provide critical financial support to landlords, and help protect our supply of rental housing.”
Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San Francisco), Chair of the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee:
“Even though our state has reopened, hundreds of thousands of Californians are grappling with rental debt and the threat of eviction. Removing eviction protections now, while billions of rent relief dollars are still available, would be a disaster and exacerbate our homelessness crisis. This proposal avoids a massive eviction cliff, allowing us to keep tenants in their homes and get landlords the financial support they need.”
Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), Chair of the Senate Housing Committee:
“We’ve made strides in ending this pandemic, but its impact will continue to reverberate through our economy. Many renters are still out of work. Thousands of families tragically lost someone in their household to COVID-19, which can be both emotionally and financially devastating. We need to ensure our social safety net stays strong, so every Californian can stay stably housed.”
