Full Notification

Urgency Ordinance clarifies and amends provisions of the City’s Residential Eviction Moratorium to reflect state law, and extends the City’s Commercial Eviction Moratorium.
 
On September 1, 2020, Governor Newsom signed AB 3088 (COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020, “the Act”). Among other things this state law extends the period of protection from eviction to tenants for nonpayment of rent through January 31, 2021 so long as tenants comply with the Act’s requirements.
 
Under the Act, no tenant can be evicted as a result of rent owed due to a COVID-19 related hardship accrued between March 4, 2020 and August 31, 2020 if, upon notice from the landlord, the tenant provides a declaration of hardship according to the legislation’s timelines. For a COVID-19-related hardship that accrues between September 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021, tenants who receive a notice from their landlords must also pay at least 25 percent of the rent due before January 31, 2021, to avoid eviction. High-income tenants may also be required to provide additional documentation. The full text of the Act is available here.
 
The City of West Hollywood will present a Free Informational Webinar about Residential Eviction Protections under the City’s Residential Eviction Moratorium and under the state law at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. Registration for the webinar is available by visiting https://app.livestorm.co/city-of-west-hollywood/west-hollywood-residential-eviction-moratorium-update.
 
The Act reflects a statewide approach to residential eviction protection, while maintaining important and impactful local provisions; it provides specific provisions for cities with existing moratorium ordinances. As such, the City of West Hollywood is restating its Urgency Ordinance for the purposes of conforming to the new state law. To that end, the moratorium period for nonpayment of rent due to COVID-19 under the City’s Residential Eviction Moratorium remains March 16, 2020 through September 30, 2020, with additional protections provided through the end of January by the state law. The repayment period was set as October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021. Simply, after September 30, 2020, the City’s local Residential Eviction Moratorium will be replaced with eviction protection under the state law, which extends the period of protection from eviction to tenants for nonpayment of rent through January 31, 2021 so long as tenants comply with the Act’s requirements.
 
For evictions other than nonpayment of rent due to COVID-19, the City’s Urgency Ordinance extends the limits on permissible grounds for eviction until January 31, 2021, and clarifies provisions that prohibit residential evictions based on the presence of companion animals. The Urgency Ordinance also adds provisions to require housing funded by the West Hollywood Affordable Housing Trust Fund to permit companion animals in its facilities and dwelling units for the duration of the COVID-19 declared local emergency.
 
The Urgency Ordinance additionally extends the timeline of the City’s Commercial Eviction Moratorium through January 31, 2021.
 
Additionally, the City will present a series of Rent Stabilization Ordinance Informational Virtual Workshops in October at 7 p.m. each Tuesday. The October 6, 2020 workshop will feature a Tenant Basics workshop followed by an October 13, 2020 Tenant Advanced workshop, which will highlight tenant protections and resources. Then, a Landlord Basics workshop will be presented on October 20, 2020 and a Landlord Advanced workshop will be held on October 27, 2020, which will give landlords a deeper understanding of the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance and tenant’s rights and responsibilities. Information about joining the online Zoom workshops is provided on the City’s website calendar at www.weho.org/calendar.  These “RSO Building Blocks” workshops are part of a series of workshops held twice per year to educate property owners, managers, tenants, and community members about the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO). For details, click here.
 
The City of West Hollywood regularly updates its Renters Resources and Small Business Resources webpage areas as part of coronavirus information available on the City’s website at www.weho.org/coronavirus. At this webpage area, community members can find up-to-date details about relief available during the coronavirus crisis on a variety of topics. Additional information about renting in West Hollywood is available at www.weho.org/rent.
 
As background, the City of West Hollywood approved its Residential Eviction Moratorium on Monday, March 16, 2020. The City amended that Moratorium and approved a Commercial Eviction Moratorium on Monday, April 6, 2020. The adoption and implementation of the City’s eviction moratoriums and Urgency Ordinances assist in protecting residential and commercial tenants. During the local emergency, and in the interest of protecting public health and preventing transmission of COVID-19, it is essential to avoid unnecessary displacement, to protect the City’s affordable housing stock, and to prevent housed individuals from falling into homelessness, especially given state and county directives to remain at home as much as possible. Promoting stability among commercial tenancies is additionally conducive to public health, allowing businesses to follow the advice and directives of Public Health officials to close and allowing employees to avoid public contact during times of a public health crisis without fear of imminent eviction or foreclosure.
 
The City of West Hollywood has declared a local emergency in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. When in public, community members should maintain your space with social (physical) distancing of at least six feet, and cover that face to adhere to City requirements for the use of face coverings.
 
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City of West Hollywood Amends Temporary Residential and Commercial Eviction Moratoriums