Californians who missed rent due to COVID-19 related income-loss are protected from eviction if certain conditions are met under Assembly Bill (AB) 3088:
- Rent Missed March to August 2020: Tenants cannot be evicted for rent missed in this time period if income was lost due to COVID-19. Although protected from eviction, renters must pay 50% of rent missed rent by February 28, 2021 and 100% by August 31, 2021 or be subject to civil debt collection.
- Rent Missed September 2020 to January 2021: Renters must pay 25% of rent missed in this time period by January 31, 2021 to be protected from eviction. If that threshold is met, tenants cannot be evicted for the remaining rent. However, any unpaid balance is subject to civil debt collection beginning March 1, 2020.
AB 3088’s eviction moratorium ends on January 31, 2021 and the bill does not forgive missed rent under any circumstances. Assemblymember Chiu recently introduced AB 15 to extend eviction protections through the end of 2021 as long as tenants pay at least 25% of rent due. Landlords would also be prohibited from taking civil action to claim unpaid rent until January 1, 2022, or at the end of a local jurisdiction’s repayment period, whichever is later.
AB 16, a companion bill to AB 15, has intent language to deal with the long-term financial impacts of the pandemic on tenants, small landlords and affordable housing providers by establishing a fund administered by HCD. The fund would presumably help cover unpaid rent to forgive months of rental debt and provide financial relief to small landlords and affordable housing providers.