Housing

Updated 04/24/2020

COVID-19 Renter Protection:

The City of Los Angeles has tenant protections in place to help prevent displacement of its residents that are renters.
To assist tenants collaborate with their landlords, HCIDLA is providing a fact sheet and a sample notification form to assist in notifying your landlord of delays in paying your rent during this emergency order period.

The COVID-19 Renter Protections Fact Sheet can also assist landlords to provide such notice to all tenants as required by Ordinance No. 186585.

Summary of the protections in place for residential tenancies.

No owner can evict a residential tenant for nonpayment of rent if the tenant is unable to pay rent due to circumstance related to the COVID-19, such as:
- Loss of income due to workplace closure or reduced hours due to COVID-19
- Loss of income or increased child care expenditures due to school closures
- Health care expenditures stemming from COVID-19 infection of the tenant or a member of the tenant’s household who is ill with COVID-19
- Reasonable expenditures stemming from government ordered emergency measures.
"Tenants are still obligated to pay lawfully charged rent."
However, during the emergency period, tenants may not be evicted for failure to pay rent due to the financial impacts related to COVID-19. Tenants will have up to 12 months following the expiration of the local emergency to repay any back rent due. On March 30, 2020, the City Council extended the repayment period from 6 to 12 months.
No property owner shall exercise a No-fault Eviction during the Local Emergency Period. No-Fault evictions means those not based on an alleged fault of the tenant.
No property owner may withdraw an occupied residential unit from the rental housing market under the Ellis Act.
Landlords may not evict tenants due to the presence of unauthorized occupants, pets or nuisance related to COVID-19.
Landlords may not charge interest or late fees on unpaid rent due to COVID-19.

Landlords are required to give written notice of the renter protections to tenants within 30 days of March 31, 2020.

Renters Protection Fact Sheet

Advice for Renters:

Know your rights, if you can’t pay your rent, don’t leave your home but communicate with your landlord. Let them know in writing about your economic circumstances as a result of COVID-19; Make a plan; Landlords cannot force tenants to provide documents of lost income or hardship; Renters are not required to sign any payment agreements; For more information, please visit: hcidla.lacity.org/covid-19-renter-protections or call: (866) 557-7368. Attached is a fact sheet in English; Spanish is forthcoming. Please click here for HCID's video on tenant protections

Eviction Protection:

Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order that authorizes local governments to halt evictions for renters and homeowners, slows foreclosures, and protects against utility shutoffs for Californians affected by COVID-19. The order does not relieve a tenant from the obligation to pay rent, or restrict the landlord’s ability to recover rent that is due. The protections are in effect through May 31, 2020, unless extended. The order also requests banks and other financial institutions to halt foreclosures and related evictions during this time period. The full Executive Order can be found here.
On March 19, 2020, Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, signed an Executive Order which includes the moratorium on residential and commercial evictions. The moratorium covers tenants retroactively from March 4, 2020 to May 31, 2020. For view the complete proclamation, click here.
Learn more at: https://hcidla.lacity.org/covid-19-eviction-moratorium

More Resources:

Utility Bill Relief:
Information on bill relief from LA County Public Works and So Cal Edison

https://lacounty.gov/covid19/utility-bill-relief/

*The Korean American Coalition-Los Angeles (KACLA) cannot and does not provide legal and financial advice. The COVID-19 resources provided are for general informational and educational purposes only based on government-issued resources and are not a substitute for professional advice. April 7, 2020.*