June 28, 2021 -- Residential tenants whose rents become due between July 1 and September 30 have a year to pay under an order issued by Santa Monica's city manager last week.
The 38th supplement to Santa Monica’s local emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic issued Thursday "explicitly adopts most provisions of Los Angeles County’s residential tenant eviction moratorium," City officials said.
"The eviction moratorium continues to be a critical safety net for many residents whose livelihoods have been challenged by the impacts of COVID-19,” said Interim City Manager John Jalili.
“There are funds available from the State for rent assistance to cover unpaid rent and landlords and tenants are encouraged to apply,” Jalili said.
In addition to eviction protections for nonpayment of rent, the City has adopted County provisions that prohibit until September 30 no-fault termination of tenancy or occupancy and unauthorized occupants or pets.
No-fault terminations are except "for limited carve out for owner occupancy evictions for single-family homes," City officials said.
Santa Monica did not adopt a County provision extending eviction protection for denial of entry into a unit, which under the City’s provision expires on June 30.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted last Tuesday to extend the moratorium.
“By adopting deliberate, proactive strategies, we have minimized evictions during this once-in-a-century pandemic," said Sheila Kuehl, who recommended the extension.
"Our responsibility now is to phase out this moratorium in a way that ensures we don’t sacrifice our hard-won success keeping families in their homes, while thoughtfully easing rules on property owners and returning to normal,” Kuehl said.
The State is considering legislation to extend the state-law protections against evictions of residential tenants premised on non-payment of rent, City officials said.
If implemented, the extension may preempt and supersede the County provisions regarding non-payment of rent adopted by the 38th Supplement, officials said.
Landlords and tenants can apply for State of California funds for rent assistance to cover unpaid rent at housingiskey.com.