As California Eviction Moratorium Ends, Authorities Remind Tenants that they Still Have Rights

California's statewide eviction moratorium expired at the end of September. Nevertheless, Tenants who pay 25% of the back rent and are making payments over the next year on rent due, may be able to stay in their Los Angeles County homes.

Los Angeles officials gathered with tenant rights advocates on Thursday, Sept. 30, to advertise that the city's eviction moratorium is still in effect.

California had extended its eviction moratorium three times, including in June. But there was simply no political support to push the moratorium past Sept. 30, Assemblyman Daily Chiu, D-San Francisco, has said. Chiu has wrote bills instituting and extending the eviction moratorium.

Tenants may apply for state and local rent relief program at housingiskey.com, officials said.

Santa Monica and other municipalities also have rent assistance programs. As long as tenants pay 25% of the back rent and make payments on the rest, in Los Angeles they can remain in their apartments or other rental for a year

"Despite what you may be hearing, we want you to know that the city's eviction protections remain in place, do not expire and have been upheld in the courts," Faizah Malik, senior staff attorney for Public Counsel, said.

California has billions of dollars to spend from money allocated through a federal pandemic relief law. People who receive support from the program also get extend eviction protections through March.

"Tenants who owe back rent or who will have trouble paying rent on the first of the month should not wait to apply for rent relief," Dept. of Housing and Community Development Department Director Gustavo Velasquez said in a press release this week. "The sooner they apply for rent relief, the sooner they will be protected from eviction for non-payment of rent."