Can’t pay rent due to pandemic-related income loss? YOU STILL DON’T HAVE TO MOVE!!! Tenant protections and details on applying for CA renter debt relief funds below! Reach out to us if you are facing harassment or eviction, or if you need help interpreting these new protections. Printable updated details and declarations in English, Spanish and Chinese can be found here. Please give them to your friends, family and neighbors!
For rent due September 2020 – June 2021, State laws AB 3088 and SB 91 lay out specific processes that both you and the landlord have to follow.
Some key protections:
- If your landlord gives you a notice to “pay or quit,” you have 15 business days to return the form “Declaration of COVID-19-Related Financial Distress”, signed under penalty of perjury. If you do not file in time, an eviction proceeding may be filed against you, but if it was a mistake, you may have an opportunity to file this form in court. If you make more than 130% of area median household income, your landlord may demand proof of your COVID-19 related hardship. For most renters, no proof is necessary.
- You must pay at least 25% of your September – June rent on or before June 30, 2021 or your landlord can begin eviction proceedings. The remaining 75% of your rent can be collected as a civil debt, but you cannot be evicted for that portion of the rent.
- Landlords are prohibited from charging late fees or interest for nonpayment of rent during this time period.
We are thankful for the immediate relief of SB91, but the bill is riddled with loopholes, and we’re going to continue to push for much stronger protections to #EndEvictions, #CancelRent and #CancelDebt for ALL tenants.
Call our free clinics for help! See our updated page for tenant protections during COVID-19 for more info, and visit SFADC’s site for these protections in multiple languages.