Signed by Governor Gavin Newsom

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that extends unemployment benefits and temporary assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlights:

• Prohibits a housing provider, tenant screening company, or other entity that evaluates tenants on behalf of a housing provider from using an alleged COVID-19 rental debt as a negative factor to evaluate a prospective housing application or as the basis for refusing to rent a dwelling unit to an otherwise qualified prospective tenant (Sec. 3).

• Prohibits a landlord from, concerning a tenant who has COVID-19 rental debt and who has submitted a declaration of COVID-19-related financial distress, doing either of the following (Sec. 6.a):

• Charge a tenant, or attempt to collect from a tenant, fees assessed for the late payment of that COVID-19 rental debt; or

• Increase fees charged to the tenant or charge the tenant fees for services previously provided by the landlord without charge.

• Authorizes a tenant to deliver the declaration of COVID-19-related financial distress to the landlord by any of the following methods (Sec. 8.f):

• In-person, if the landlord indicates in the notice an address at which the declaration may be delivered in person;

• By electronic transmission, if the landlord indicates an email address in the notice to which the declaration may be delivered;

• Through United States mail to the address indicated by the landlord in the notice. If the landlord does not provide an address then it shall be conclusively presumed that upon the mailing of the declaration by the tenant to the address provided by the landlord, the declaration is deemed received by the landlord on the date posted, if the tenant can show proof of mailing to the address provided by the landlord; and

• Through any of the same methods that the tenant can use to deliver the payment according to the notice of delivery of the declaration by that method is possible.

• Specifies any ordinance, resolution, regulation, or administrative action adopted by a city, county, or city and county in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to protect tenants from eviction is subject to all of the following (Sec. 9.a):

• Any extension, expansion, renewal, reenactment, or new adoption of a measure, however delineated, that occurs between August 19, 2020, and June 30, 2021, has no effect before July 1, 2021; and

• Any provision which allows a tenant a specified period in which to repay COVID-19 rental debt is subject to all of the following:

• If the provision in effect on August 19, 2020, required the repayment period to commence on a specific date on or before August 1, 2021, any extension of that date made after August 19, 2020, has no effect;

• If the provision in effect on August 19, 2020, required the repayment period to commence on a specific date after August 1, 2021, or conditioned commencement of the repayment period on the termination of a proclamation of state of emergency or local emergency, the repayment period is deemed to begin on August 1, 2021; and

• The specified period during which a tenant is permitted to repay COVID-19 rental debt may not extend beyond the period that was in effect on August 19, 2020. In addition, a provision may not permit a tenant a period that extends beyond August 31, 2022, to repay COVID-19 rental debt.

• Requires eligible uses for funds made available to a grantee to be as follows (Sec. 10.c-1):

• Rental arrears;

• Prospective rent payments;

• Utilities, including arrears and prospective payments for utilities; and

• Any other expenses related to housing.

Full Bill Text