COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act Extended

Extends tenant, landlord, and homeowner protections under AB 3088 (Chiu, Caballero, et.al) until June 30, 2021, including the current requirement that tenants pay 25% per month by the end of the moratorium – June 30, 2021.
Extends the dates around statewide uniformity/preemption rules until June 30, 2021.

Allocates federal stimulus relief to landlords and tenants through a statewide model.
Pays up to a year of unpaid arrears (April 2020 through March 2021) and allows up to three months of future rent payments (April 2021 through June 2021), depending on availability of funds.
Prioritizes, based on federal law, households with highest need, targeting households with less than 80% area median income (AMI) with special focus on households below 50% AMI or households experiencing unemployment for at least 90 days.

Offers participating landlords 80% of a tenant’s rental arrears as long as the landlord forgives the remaining 20%.
Offers tenants a 25% payment for landlords who decline to participate in order to secure monthly rental payment eviction protection.
Preserves 25% prospective rental payments after accounting for unpaid arrears.
Allows courts to reduce a COVID-19 rental debt damages if a landlord refused to participate in the rental assistance program with a qualified tenant.

Prohibits a landlord from applying a tenant’s security deposit to satisfy COVID-19 rental debt.
Prohibits a landlord from charging late fees on the repayment of COVID-19 rental debt.
Imposes a moratorium on a landlord’s ability to sell or assign COVID-19 rental debt until June 30, 2021.
Prohibits a landlord from selling or assigning COVID-19 rental debt of a tenant who qualified for the rental assistance program and is below 80% AMI.

Imposes a moratorium on legal actions seeking to recover COVID-19 rental debt until July 1, 2021.
Requires a landlord seeking to recover COVID-19 rental debt to provide documentation that the landlord has made a good faith effort to cooperate with a tenant who qualifies for the rental assistance program.
Allows a court to limit attorney’s fees in COVID-19 rental debt cases.
Prohibits a housing provider from using COVID-19 rental debt as a negative factor in evaluating a tenant’s rent a unit.

The federal stimulus bill provided $25 billion nationally and California has been allocated $2.61 billion.
- $1.1 billion direct federal allocation to large cities and counties over 200,000 in population.
- $1.5 billion administered by the state.
The state share of federal funding ($1.5 billion) will be allocated based on population.
Provides a $150 million set aside for smaller counties with less than 200,000 in population.
Remaining funds allocated to large cities and counties with over 200,000 in population.

Pursuant to federal law, income must be below 80% AMI based on total household income for calendar year 2020 or a household’s monthly income at the time of application.
Prioritization given to households 1) below 50% AMI or 2) where they have been unemployed for the 90-day period prior to application.
The statewide model will utilize rounds to prioritize those who need the assistance most:
- Round 1: Below 50% AMI or unemployed for 90 days.
- Round 2: Income below 80% AMI and in a community disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
- Round 3: Everyone below 80% AMI not addressed in round 1 or 2 above.

Prioritization will be given to rental arreages. Prospective rent and utility arreages can be addressed thereafter.
- Federal law defines utilities to include electricity, gas, water and sewer, trash removal and energy costs, such as fuel oil.

The state will administer funds reserved for smaller counties and larger cities and counties that that participate in the statewide program.
A contracted entity will utilize a technology platform to quickly facilitate funds with landlord and tenant coordination and fraud controls.
Utilizing local community partners, the contracted entity must have multilingual capabilities and the capacity allow landlords and tenants to track their applications.
The platform is similar to the model used by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development’s Small Business Grant Program.
State applications must be available no later than March 15, 2021.
Local governments with a population over 200,000 that received a direct share of federal dollars and apply for a state block grant can administer their own local program.

In addition to educational outreach through local community partners, the bill requires landlords to provide tenants who owe back-rent a notice about the rental assistance program.

Federal law authorizes landlords to apply in coordination with a tenant.
The contracted entity that operates the statewide program will maintain communication between the landlord and the tenant.
As required by federal law, funds are provided directly to the landlord to be applied to a tenant’s unpaid rent. Upon payment, the program will provide payment documentation to the tenant.

Please visit http://housingiskey.com or call the California Housing is Key COVID-19 Assistance Line at 1-833-422-4255 for more information.

Yes. Based on conversations we have had with the National Low-Income Housing Project, the rental assistance is available to individuals regardless of citizenship or immigration status. We are waiting for the new federal Administration to issue additional guidance on eligibility.