A proposal to further extend eviction protections for tenants in Los Angeles County failed to gain support from the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, following a more than $14 million expansion of the Emergency Rent Relief Program.
Last week, the board directed county attorneys to develop an ordinance requiring renters to be at least two months behind in fair market rent before landlords in unincorporated areas can initiate an eviction. The current threshold for starting the eviction process is one-month delinquency.
Attorneys were expected to present an ordinance to the board within a month.
Tenants’ rights advocates urged the board to raise the eviction threshold to three months of lapsed rent payments and extend the policy to include tenants in both unincorporated areas as well as incorporated cities within the county.
Supervisor Lindsey Horvath introduced a motion last week with those provisions, but that proposal failed Tuesday when none of her four colleagues would second the motion. A motion without a second supervisor’s OK cannot proceed to a vote.
A number of people in attendance at the board meeting booed the motion’s failure, with several speaking in favor of it. At one point the group of supporters repeatedly chanted “Cowards!”
As order failed to restore in the board’s meeting room in downtown Los Angeles, supervisors recessed into a nonpublic session to confer with attorneys about legal matters.
The board’s action last week to raise the threshold to two months for evictions in unincorporated areas was a response to what Supervisors Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis said was increasing financial pressure on tenants in recent months. The supervisors pointed to widespread efforts by federal immigration agencies, which supervisors said have discouraged some county residents from going to work and harmed businesses that have lost customers and workers.
The current fair market rent in LA County is $2,085 per month for a one-bedroom unit, and $2,601 for two bedrooms, officials said.
$14.6M expansion of Emergency Rent Relief Program
Tenants throughout LA County can submit applications for the second round of the Emergency Rent Relief Program, officials said Monday.
The application portal opened Monday at 9 a.m., and will remain open until March 11 at 4:59 p.m, according to the LA County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs, which oversees the program. Tenants, landlords and displaced homeowners who experienced emergency-related financial hardship were encouraged to apply.
The program offers grants for up to six months of assistance with a maximum grant of $15,000 per rental unit. Rent relief may include unpaid rental or mortgage debt, eligible utilities and other verified housing-related expenses.
Round 2 adds an additional $14.6 million, bringing the program’s total cost to more than $44.6 million, officials said.
The first round of the program was in December and ended in January. The DCBA received 4,644 applications during the first round, according to the department.
“This program exists because our county leadership understands how deeply a variety of emergencies have affected residents across the entire region,” said DCBA Director Rafael Carbajal said in a statement. “I encourage tenants and landlords who need help to visit the portal and apply as soon as possible.”
Tenants and landlords can apply at lacountyrentrelief.com. Tenants can also apply by phone through approved program partners, available in multiple languages, officials said.
