As the end of California’s eviction moratorium looms in the foreground, the Long Beach City Council looked to adjust its rental assistance program to prioritize residents with active eviction notices at its Tuesday meeting.
“In many cases, these [emergency rental] payments are not coming soon enough, because current evictions and foreclosure protections expire on June 30,” Councilmember Roberto Uranga said. “That is why it’s of paramount importance that we identify and prioritize residents who are in immediate danger of eviction, so that they can receive the support they need to stay in their homes.”
Thanks to a combination of state and federal funding, the City of Long Beach has over $50 million to allocate towards emergency rental assistance, of which nearly $40 million has been requested by tenants and landlords thus far, according to City Manager Tom Modica.
The rental assistance program comes with a list of requirements doled out by federal and state regulators. The council cannot change the eligibility requirements, but the item can allow staff to put eligible residents facing eviction “at the front of the line” for payment, Modica said.
Tenants will be prioritized if they’ve been served a notice of termination of tenancy, an eviction, a notice to vacate, a notice to pay or quit, or any other eviction notice.
Deputy Director of Development Services Christopher Koontz said that processing times on applications are relatively short—only taking about ten days—but incomplete applications have stalled the process.
“It has been taking much longer than that—a couple of months—to process these applications,” Koontz said. “Because we’ll be missing information from the tenant.”
In addition to proving financial need, tenants must also prove that COVID directly affected their ability to pay rent. These include the contraction of COVID-19, loss of work due to health mandates on businesses or “some complicating factor tied back to the pandemic,” Koontz said.
“In many cases, these [emergency rental] payments are not coming soon enough, because current evictions and foreclosure protections expire on June 30.”
–Councilmember Roberto Uranga
Even if residents are unable to file tax documents, Koontz said they can sign a “sworn declaration” to confirm their income level. He stressed that the City is accepting applications at “any level of completeness.”
“This pandemic brought so much pain to so many families. It put many out of work and left people with no steady resource of income to purchase food, pay bills, or even pay rent,” Councilmember Mary Zendejas said. “As we come out of this pandemic, it is important to do our best to connect folks with the emergency resources available.”
Though the item’s goal is to prevent evictions, it may have come too late. The council’s next meeting will take place on July 6, six days after the eviction moratorium ends.
Though Koontz said the City will notify landlords of any forthcoming payments to prevent evictions, landlords are not required to accept the payments.
To learn more about the program’s various income and eligibility guidelines, visit longbeach.gov/erap. Applications are due on July 11, 2021.
