LA County Board of Supervisors to consider extending eviction protection to commercial renters
LOS ANGELES - On Tuesday, when the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meets, they’ll consider a motion to extend eviction protections to commercial renters.
For residential tenants, it’s a more complicated story. Under current state law the County doesn’t have the authority to extend eviction protections for residential tenants and it doesn’t look like the state is going to extend them either.
But, if tenants apply to the state’s rent relief program, there is help to pay back past due rent and be protected from eviction but first tenants made their feelings known today.
The clock is ticking for many renters. And, protestors are frustrated.
In fact, Carla de Paz with a coalition of activists says, "Tenants are very worried because eviction protections are going to expire on September 30th."
de Paz says they want the Board of Supervisors when they meet Tuesday and the State to extend the eviction moratorium and help people like Claudia Morales.
She’s been told she, her son and her boyfriend will be evicted.
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Morales says, "Like right now I don’t feel like I’m prepared."
She says she’s emotionally stressed out.
de Paz doesn’t think it’s time yet to lift the moratorium.
She says there hasn’t been a substantial enough economic recovery yet adding, "there are 700,000 households that are behind on rent, 500,000 of those households haven’t applied for rental assistance. So, that’s a lot of families. Assemblyman Miguel Santiago says, "It’s a huge problem. We have 88% renters in the district I represent."
On a recent edition of FOX 11 News In Depth he said, there is help thru the website HousingisKey.ca.gov.
First, he says, people need to apply at the site.
Santiago says after the eviction moratorium is over, "You can still not get evicted if you’re in the process of applying" even if you were served by your landlord you have to demonstrate within 15 days that you’re applying for the money set forth by the state which, he says would prevent you from being evicted thru next March.
When we talked with Claudia Morales she wasn’t aware of the program. Nonetheless… she’s nervous.
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