California to extend eviction ban, pay back rent for tenants

California will ban evictions for unpaid rent due to COVID through the end of September and pay off all back rent for eligible tenants under a deal announced Friday by Governor Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders. Unfortunately, it preempts local protection even if stronger until April 1, 2022, that have been or will be passed. Also, landlords receive money even if tenant has vacated which rewards harassment of tenants.

Summary of Assembly Bill 832, the new statewide eviction moratorium extension and rent-relief bill:

• Nonpayment evictions may not be filed before October 1, 2021 for an eligible tenant impacted by COVID who properly returns the relevant declarations in response to a notice.
• Tenants will have until September 30, 2021 to pay 25% of the rent that was owed from September 1, 2020, through September 30, 2021, to be protected from eviction for nonpayment of rent during that time period.
• Collection actions for COVID-19 rental debt may not begin before November 1, 2021.
• Most other sunset dates in Senate Bill 91 will be extended by 3 months with two exceptions.
  • The sunset on the masking provisions will be deleted, making those provisions permanent.
  • The sunset on the local preemption provision will be extend through 3/31/2022.
• Both tenants and landlords will be eligible for relief in the amount of 100% of rental arrears accrued starting April 1, 2020. Payments are retroactive, so any landlord or tenant who has already received funds can still get to 100%.
• Tenants are able to apply on their own if their landlord does not apply.
• Eligible tenants can get 100% of prospective rent up to a maximum of 18 months of total rental assistance to the tenant.
• Relief will be available for back rent owed by a tenant who has already moved out, but these payments can only go directly to landlords.
• From October 1, 2021, through March 31, 2022, no summons can issue in an unlawful detainer (UD) based on non-payment of rental debt that “accumulated due to Covid hardship” unless the landlord can show that they applied for rental assistance and the application was denied. This will not apply to new tenancies created after October 1, 2021 (a new landlord/tenant relationship, not just a new lease). If a landlord does not make this showing within 60 days, the case shall be dismissed without prejudice.
• Starting October 1, 2021, a tenant in a UD who has an approved rental assistance application, can petition the court to stay the UD until the funding is received. The case will be dismissed if that payment resolves the unpaid rent that is the basis of the UD.
• The state and all local rental assistance programs will have to develop a way for courts, landlords, and tenants, to verify the status of a rental assistance application.
• There are changes to how federal funds are distributed throughout the state to account for higher needs in some regions than in others.
• The ability for a court to offset in a collection action any amount a landlord was eligible to get from a rental assistance program but for which they failed to apply will be extended to Option C jurisdictions. (This previously only applied in A and B jurisdictions.)
• The 15-day notice will remain in effect through September 30, 2021, and revert to 3 days on October 1, 2021.
• If a tenant submits an application and is issued funds, the tenant must give the funds to the landlord within 15 days or face a one month late fee so long as the lease permits late fees.