Legal Corner

By C. tyler greer, esq. the duringer law grouP, PlC

I have a tenant who has not paid rent since the COVID-19 Pandemic began. I was told that I could not evict for unpaid rent during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Can I evict based on the tenant’s failure to pay rent? If I evict for failure to pay rent, do I still, as a housing provider, have to apply for rental assistance?

Yes and Yes. The last few years have been a confusing period for all involved in this industry. There seems to be a new law every couple of months, and it can be hard, at times, to keep up with. But, as of October 1, 2021, housing providers are once again able to evict tenants based on failure to pay rent, regardless of COVID-19 hardship. However, this comes with some caveats. You can only evict for unpaid rent that became due on or after October 1, 2021. In addition, as part of the broad tenant protections enacted in California in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, state law requires that landlords apply for rental assistance and wait 20 days for the tenant to respond before filing a complaint in court. In short, yes, you can evict based on unpaid rent, but only for rent due on or after October 1, 2021, and you need to apply for rental assistance for any amount claimed in the notice to pay. Note: This law requiring you to apply for rental assistance prior to eviction is currently set to expire on March 31, 2022. If the law is not extended, you will no longer need to apply for rental assistance to evict a tenant for unpaid rent.

I have an eviction case pending against a tenant based on nonpayment of rent. I completed an application for rental assistance, but the tenant did not complete his part of the application. On the day of trial the tenant appeared and showed the judge a pending a rental assistance application that I have never seen before. The judge continued the trial. What does this mean? Can I not evict the tenant, even though he did not complete his rental assistance application that I sent him? The short answer is that as of right now, the court will not award you possession of the premises in rent-based cases if there is a pending rental application. Thus, even if the rental assistance application is untimely (not completed within 20 days of the notice) the courts are still not going forward with trials if there is pending rental application. One of the most frequent topics of questions we receive at the Duringer Law Group, PLC is regarding the status of rental assistance and, specifically, how to deal with Housing Is Key. As discussed above, state law requires housing providers to apply for rental assistance before they can proceed with an eviction case based on unpaid rent. Most housing providers have had direct dealings with Housing is Key or a local agency and know the rental assistance program is far from efficient. We are seeing many AAOC members and clients do their part by creating a rental assistance application only to have the application sit unanswered by the tenant. Then, after waiting the 20 days, filing their complaint, and appearing at trial, the tenant then presents his or her own pending rental assistance application. This results in wasted time and expense. In an ideal world, your tenant’s application would be automatically linked with your application, but that is not the case in reality. To fix this problem and prevent this confusion, the best way to figure out whether there is pending application is to be proactive by contacting your tenant and/or the

rental assistance agency to inquire about the tenant’s application. Being proactive is the best way to prevent wasted time and expense. In addition, the saying “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” is very true in this setting. Constantly calling and inquiring about the status of your application may ultimately help move the process along and ensure that the rental assistance agency has all the information it needs to process your application.

Now trial is continued, and I have the rental assistance application linked, what’s next?

The current law prohibiting rent-based evictions when there is a pending rental assistance application remains in effect until March 31, 2022. This date may be extended, however, as of the date of this article, the law has not been extended. This same law requires mandatory status conferences set no more than 15 days apart, in which the court is to be notified of the status of the rental assistance application. As such, many cases are currently stuck in eviction purgatory with status conferences set every few weeks. Unfortunately, this is likely to continue as long as the current law is in place. However, once the law expires, application status will no longer be relevant and your case will proceed. We are doing everything in our power to ensure this law does not get extended and expires at the end of March.

My tenant recently moved out and I was told that I cannot use the security deposit to cover unpaid rent during the COVID-19 protected period, is that true?

No. Once the tenant has vacated the property, you may apply any remaining balance of the security deposit to unpaid rent. With that said, where some confusion may lie is that there was a new law enacted in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic that prohibits a housing provider from applying the security deposit to unpaid rent while the tenant is still in possession. Therefore, if the tenant is in still possession, the security deposit cannot be used for unpaid rent. Conversely, there is no restriction once the tenant has vacated.

I have tenant who just moved in and stopped paying rent. Do I have to complete a rental assistance application in order to No. As discussed above, if you are seeking unpaid rent from October 1, 2021, and earlier, you normally have to complete a rental assistance application to proceed with the eviction. However, the law has an exception for leases entered into on or after October 1, 2021. For leases entered into on or after October 1, 2021, you do not need to complete a rental assistance application to proceed with a rent-based eviction.

This article is presented in a general nature to address typical landlord tenant legal issues. Specific inquiries regarding a particular situation should be addressed to your attorney. C. Tyler Greer is an attorney at The Duringer Law Group, PLC, one of the largest and most experienced landlord tenant law firms in the country. The firm has successfully handled over 300,000 landlord tenant matters throughout California and has collected over $300,000,000 in debt since 1988. The firm may be reached at 714.279.1100 or 800.829.6994. Please visit www.DuringerLaw.com for more information.

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