SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KNX) — To the relief of some renters, California has extended its COVID-19 pandemic eviction moratorium once more in the first bill a woman signed into law in the history of the state.
Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis on Thursday signed into law a bill that extends eviction protections for Californians who have applied for, but not yet received aid from the emergency rental assistance program until June 30. Kounalakis is the acting governor while Newsom is on vacation.
Assembly Bill 2179, co-authored by East Bay assemblymembers Tim Grayson and Buffy Wicks, is California's fourth extension of its pandemic-era moratorium. The moratorium otherwise would've ended on Friday.
"California's nation-leading rent relief program has provided much needed relief for more than 220,000 households across the state," Kounalakis said in a statement provided by the governor's office. "Today's action will provide additional time to thousands more who are in the process of acquiring emergency relief."
Although California's Emergency Rental Assistance Program won't accept applications after Thursday, demand has not slowed. A brief prepared last week by National Equity Atlas and Housing Now! found that nearly 27,000 households applied for the program between Feb. 23 and March 22.
About 271,000 applicants, representing more than half of the program’s total, are still waiting for a review of their application. Around 95,000 have been approved and are awaiting payment or have reapplied for additional support. The organizations said that, at the current rate of approvals, applicants in line would be waiting until Thanksgiving for a decision.
Rents in the state, meanwhile, are approaching pre-pandemic levels. A Realtor.com analysis of February rents around San Francisco and San Jose found the areas were fewer than $100 cheaper than in February 2020.
A pair of San Francisco lawmakers voted against the bill, which passed both chambers with near unanimity. Sen. Scott Wiener and Assemblymember Phil Ting opposed the bill, in part, because it preempted the city's own moratorium while leaving Los Angeles' and Oakland's in place.
"We shouldn't be playing favorites by allowing some cities to protect their renters while prohibiting other cities from doing so," the lawmakers said in a joint statement earlier this week, calling the preemption "a fatal flaw." "Cities must have the ability to protect their residents from eviction and homelessness."
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