The City of Long Beach is offering emergency rental assistance to residents facing COVID-related income losses, but only a fraction of those eligible will receive assistance.
As of this morning, July 14, around 350 people have been submitted to the City for the Long Beach CARES Emergency Rental Assistance program. Around 4,100 more applications have been mailed, emailed or picked up. The application period began on June 29 and will end on July 27, leaving two more weeks for additional applications.
Of these applicants or future applicants, around 1,700 will be chosen to receive rental assistance. Their landlords will receive $1,000 a month for three months. That’s $3,000 less that Long Beach residents and landlords will have to worry about.
“We have landlords that are making copies and passing them out to all their tenants,” Neighborhood Improvement Officer Margaret Madden said. “We’re getting calls for people who got it from their landlord or maybe their neighbor told them about it.”
However, the rental assistance program works on a lottery system. Applicants that are not chosen in the lottery will be responsible for their up-to-date rent on August 1, in addition to months of deferred rental payments if they have any.
Many who qualify will not receive assistance
Despite its intent to help renters, some have scrutinized the program for its lack of breadth. When the Long Beach City Council approved program funding on June 9, Assistant City Manager Linda Tatum made it clear that the program wouldn’t fulfill the entire community’s needs.
When asked how many people were expected to apply, she estimated they’d get upwards of 3,000 applicants.
“I will say that the need in the community is far greater than that,” Tatum said. “If you look at the need based upon incomes in the community, the impact of COVID, if you look at overcrowding, if you look at overpayment of rent, all of those factors determine need.”
Though Madden didn’t have exact numbers on the number of residents who qualify for the program, she said that the unemployment rate may help contextualize the need for assistance.
In May 2020, Long Beach had an unemployment rate of 20.9%, according to preliminary data from the United States Bureau of Labor. This is in stark contrast to their December 2019 unemployment rate of 4.1%.
According to US Census data from 2014-2018, an estimated 70,449 Long Beach residents live below the poverty line. Of those, 17,874 are members of the labor force.
If every low-income member of the labor force applied for rental assistance, the LB CARES program would only account for 9.5% of those eligible.
If everyone living below the poverty line applied, given they were renters and had COVID-related income loss, the program would only cover 2.4%.
Others have been critical of the means by which the city is allocating the money. To be granted rental assistance, residents will have to apply and then be chosen by a lottery pool.
The mere existence of a lottery pool shows evidence of the demand for rental assistance.
“If I were a tenant or a landlord and I was waiting for a lottery to determine my ability to stay in my apartment or my housing,” Councilmember Stacy Mungo said at the June 9 council meeting. “It just seems to me like a big risk.”
Even those who don’t qualify as low-income are feeling the heat
Travis Gallardo is a resident of downtown Long Beach. He’s a music composer who works with bands, television and advertising agencies, but the slowdown of the entertainment industry has put him out of work.
He’s worried that the city council won’t extend the eviction moratorium. As it stands, Gallardo will be expected to pay current rent and back due rent on August 1.
“I don’t have the most fantastic landlord of all time,” Gallardo said. “For me it’s more of a concern, at this point, what I’ll do long term. It’s a huge sum of money to pay in such a short period of time.”
Though he was making six figures before COVID-19 hit, he’s now only making 10% of that. His pre-COVID income means that he won’t qualify for the city’s rental assistance program, which is meant for low and moderate income households. Due to the nature of his work, he also doesn’t qualify for unemployment.
Ineligible for rental assistance and facing hefty amounts of back-rent, Gallardo has considered moving in with his family in the event that he’s evicted.
He’s also considered working outside his industry, but with so many people vying for jobs and little experience in other industries, his options are limited.
“As things get progressively worse, if [I] do find some type of employment, is that going to be shut down in a couple weeks as cases continue to rise?” Gallardo said. “There’s no clear cut answer right now.”
Who can apply?
Eligibility requirements are as follows:
• Must be a renter residing in a single-family, multi-unit or mobile home in the City of Long Beach
• Must have an annual household income (prior to COVID-19 income losses) below the moderate-income limit set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
To receive emergency rental assistance, applicants must be a renter residing in a single-family, multi-unit or mobile home in Long Beach. The city has provided a chart that outlines eligible household incomes.
According to Madden, these incomes are based on cost-of-living, meaning the moderate-income limit may vary from county to county.
For single-person households in Long Beach, the moderate-income limit is $63,100.
According to US Census data, the per capita income of Long Beach residents from 2014 to 2018 was $31,114, well below the moderate-income limit.
During the same period, the median household income in Long Beach was $60,551, enough to qualify for the rental assistance program if that person lived alone.
Council to vote on extension of eviction moratorium, buying time for renters
As it stands, renters are expected to pay back-due and up-to-date rent on August 1 or face eviction for nonpayment of rent.
Tonight, the Long Beach City Council will vote on an extension of the city’s eviction moratorium, proposed by Councilmembers Jeannine Pearce, Mary Zendejas and Suzie Price.
If the extension is approved, renters will not be required to pay their rent until September 1.
This buys time for renters who are unprepared to pay their back-due rent. Madden said the rental assistance lottery will take place in early August, meaning that it also buys time for lottery winners who would otherwise face eviction in August for nonpayment of rent.
Click here for more information about the Long Beach CARES Emergency rental assistance program.
Editors Note: This story previously stated that 2,200 forms were distributed to residents. Long Beach Community Information Officer Richard de la Torre updated this value to 4,100, as the previous distribution count was incomplete.
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