Housing advocates applaud state’s extension of eviction moratorium through June 30, 2021 and welcome $2.6B in federal COVID stimulus that Gov. Newsom and the state’s legislative leadership will quickly direct to renter and landlord relief
Advocates were skeptical, but happy officials did not listen to the Legislative Analysts’ Office assertion that renters only owed $400 million in back rent due to the COVID pandemic, a dubious estimate
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Housing justice advocates from Housing Is A Human Right (HHR) are calling California Governor Gavin Newsom and the legislative leadership’s extension of the state’s eviction moratorium—now in place through June 30, 2021—and their intention to quickly and equitably deploy $2.6 billion in federal COVID stimulus money for renter and landlord relief a step in the right direction. However, advocates note the unprecedented scale and enormity of the problems still facing tenants and landlords as a result of the pandemic and are urging even more action.
In a joint press statement released earlier today by Governor Newsom, Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon announcing the extension of the eviction moratorium, the trio stated, “We are also moving forward as quickly as possible to deploy California’s share of the latest federal stimulus bill – ensuring that up to $2.6 billion in renter aid is administered quickly, equitably and accountably.”
“Today’s announcement by Governor Newsom, Assembly Speaker Rendon and Senate Pro Tempore Atkins is a welcome step in the right direction and we thank them for taking swift action that will bring relief to millions of tenants and landlords alike. However, until the coronavirus pandemic is under control, an additional $2.4 billion should be allocated from the state and distributed equitably with or without landlord participation to prevent evictions,” said Susie Shannon, policy director for Housing Is A Human Right.
Last week, the state’s Legislative Analysts’ Office (LAO) issued a report asserting that the cumulative rent debt owed by California renters due to the COVID-19 pandemic was $400 million. HHR and its parent organization, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), were both deeply skeptical of the estimate, believing it to be woefully low.
Two weeks ago, Housing Is A Human Right advocates called on Newsom and the California Legislature to quickly create a $5 billion Renters and Small Landlords Survival Fund as a means to shortstop what many see as a looming eviction crisis prompted by the devastating economic havoc the coronavirus pandemic has caused throughout California over the past year.
As part of that effort, the groups ran a series of ‘The COVID Eviction Emergency Is Here’ advocacy ads in four newspapers across the state: the Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, and San Diego Union-Tribune.
California also has a welcome, if unexpected, 2021 state budget surplus of at least $15 billion (and which one budget watchdog previously predicted could be as large as $26 billion), according to Bloomberg. Housing advocates are urging Governor Newsom and state budget officials to direct a significant portion of that surplus, together with the $2.6 billion stimulus package from Washington, toward tenant and landlord relief.
California is currently home to 17 million renters, making up roughly 43 percent of the state’s population. And while eviction bans and moratoriums (several of which have been extended one or more times) that have been put in place on a national, state and local level have helped keep many struggling renters in their homes, what’s needed is truly meaningful financial assistance for both renters and the small landlords who house them. Well-intended one-time $600 payments from the state or federal government will simply not allow tenants to cover their missed—and growing—back rent obligations nor make landlords, who have also faced significant economic hardship as a result of the pandemic, whole.
According to several news sources, the U.S. Treasury has a Jan. 26 deadline to distribute $26 billion in federal rent relief funds to state and local governments. California is expecting $2.6 billion of those funds.
Contacts
Ged Kenslea, Senior Director, Communications for AHF, +1.323.791.5526, gedk@aidshealth.org
