Will any renter in California ever be evicted again for non-payment of rent? It seems not. The California legislature is going to extend the eviction moratorium through June and neither landlords nor tenant advocates are very happy about it.
California set aside $5 billion in renter’s assistance in 2020 and 2021. The state has only spent $3.6 billion of that. With the California economy doing well, you might expect that the state would give landlords a break and allow them to remove the deadwood from their properties.
The bill before the legislature would actually delay eviction moratoriums that were passed in the last year until July. But landlords in cities with eviction moratoriums passed prior to August 2020 aren’t afforded any relief by the bill at all.
Neil Seidel is the owner of six single-family rental properties in Los Angeles. He tells Reason he’s had one tenant who’s racked up $100,000 in unpaid rent at one property since March 2020. He also complains that she’s allowed unauthorized guests to stay there, who damaged the property and even caused the police to be called on one occasion.
The city of Los Angeles has had an eviction moratorium in effect since March 2020, which won’t expire until a local state of emergency lapses. The city’s moratorium doesn’t allow evictions for nuisance or nonpayment of rent for tenants who claim a COVID-related financial hardship.
Seidel says his tenant’s claim of a COVID-related hardship is bogus given that she is currently employed as an executive at a medical company. Federal financial disclosures show that his tenant continued to file reports for the company as their chief financial officer as recently as this month.
Incredibly, there was no opportunity for the landlord to sue. Los Angeles allows tenants to “self-certify” that they are in fact covered by the moratorium.
For Our VIPs: Democrats Now Trust the Politics, Not ‘The Science’ of COVID
“It sucks. It’s being stripped of our rights and the basic sacred right of property ownership. It’ll drag on and drag on,” said Mr. Seidel.
There is little that landlords or their advocates can do about it.
The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles has an active federal lawsuit against both the city and county’s eviction moratorium. The latter, as mentioned, is not in effect yet. It would be delayed again if A.B. 2179 passes.
“These were only meant to be temporary measures. Here we are two years later, in the face of having a Super Bowl game in Los Angeles where hundreds of thousands attended the game, not wearing masks,” says Daniel Yukelson, the executive director of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles. “There’s just no reason for it.”
Reason? When has a Democrat in California ever needed a reason to bribe their voters with goodies?
