Page 27 - AAGLA-MAY 2022

Multifamily News
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now remain in place for those that have applied until June 30, 2022. In addition, the original period to repay past due COVID rental debt has been extended from May 1, 2022, to May 31, 2023, under previous Assembly Bill 832 to now August 1, 2022, to August 31, 2023, or pushed out another three (3) months. Additionally, all notices to “pay rent or quit” demanding payment of COVID-related rental debt will require new language if served on or after April 1, 2022, and before July 1, 2022. The new notice to “pay rent or quit” language must include the following text in at least 12-point type:
“NOTICE FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA:
If:
(1) Before October 1, 2021, you paid your landlord at least 25 percent of any rent you missed between September 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021, and you signed and returned on time any and all declarations of COVID-19 related financial distress that your landlord gave to you,
or
(2) You completed an application for government rental assistance on or before March 31, 2022,
You may have protections against eviction. For information about legal resources that may be available to you, visit lawhelpca.org.”
Sources within the state’s Legislature have advised that this latest extension is intended to be the last, and that renter advocates had pushed legislators for a much longer extension. In fact, original proposals had called for a five-month extension. However, nothing is certain in this regulatory environment, and there is no telling how much longer cities like Los Angeles and Beverly Hills may continue their eviction moratoriums, and whether other local jurisdictions will reinstate moratoriums if and when the state’s moratorium expires on July 31, 2022.
In approving Assembly Bill 2179, Lt. Governor, Eleni Kounalakis, became the first woman in California history to sign legislation into law. Lt. Governor Kounalakis is filling in for Govenor Gavin Newsom who he left the state on a family vacation. It is rare for acting governors to sign new legislation into law in California. The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles stood steadfastly opposed to Assembly Bill 2179 while another apartment association, the California Rental Housing Association, took a neutral position and worked on the bill’s passage behind the scenes.
Don’t take all these regulations lying down. Help support the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles’ advocacy efforts to curtaillegislationthatadverselyimpactsthoseofusintherentalhousingbusiness. GivetotheApartmentAssociationofGreater Los Angeles Political Action Committee (AAGLA PAC) today at AAGLA PAC, c/o Reed & Davidson, 515 South Figueroa Street, Suite 1110, Los Angeles, California 90071-3301; Attn. C. Davidson, Treasurer, or give online at https://aagla.org/candidatespac/.
With the Passage of Assembly Bill 2179 Tenant Protections for Non-Payment
of Rent Due to COVID-19 are More Limited
Tenant eviction protections related to COVID-19 are far more limited. For renters outside of the City of Los Angeles and other local jurisdictions that do not continue to have in place moratoriums of evictions due to non-payment of COVID-19 rental debt that is:
(i) Due after March 31, 2022, housing providers can file an eviction case against renters. California’s Attorney General, Rob Bonta, has warned all renters in this situation that they should pay this rent immediately if they are served with a “three-day notice to pay rent or quit.”
(ii) Due between October 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022, and if the renter has applied for rental assistance on or before March 31, 2022, housing providers may not be able to file an eviction case until July 1, 2022. Housing providers can can file an eviction case against renters if they did not apply for rental assistance by March 31, 2022, or if an application for rental assistance was denied.
(iii) Due between March 1, 2020, and August 31, 2020, and if the renter had submitted a declaration to their landlord, the housing provider may not be able to evict the renter for that unpaid rent. The declaration requires the renter to confirm that he or she cannot pay your full rent because of COVID-19. If renters have not sent this declaration to their landlord, they may still be able to send it now and the judge might allow it.
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