The West Hollywood City Council unanimously voted in support of changes to the city’s local emergency ordinance at a regular city council meeting last night, Monday, July 20, 2020. The council extended the city’s eviction moratorium for residential and commercial tenants to September 30, 2020. The moratorium prevents evictions for tenants who are struggling to pay rent as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The updates to the emergency ordinance are as follows:
- The eviction moratorium has been extended for both residential and commercial tenants until September 30, 2020 as the corona virus pandemic continues.
- Residential and commercial tenants must show documentation of financial hardship due to COVID within 30 days of notifying the landlord that they cannot pay the rent, starting August 1st. Tenants must present bank records, reduced paycheck stubs, balance sheets, cash flow, and other proof of hardships.
- The rent grants given to residential tenants has been increased from $2000 to $3000. The city has approved 565 tenant rental grants totaling over $479,000. These grants are paid directly to landlords.
- Repayment time for commercial tenants with 20 employees or less has been extended to 12 months after the emergency is over to protect small businesses from eviction in West Hollywood while repayment terms are negotiated.
- Tenants and landlords can use security deposits to help offset rent obligations. The security deposits can be replenished over the 12 month period after the emergency ends.
The City of West Hollywood declared a local state of emergency on March 16 in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. An eviction moratorium was initiated until until April 30, extended to May 31, then later extended to July 31, before the recent extension to September 30, as the city continues to operate under a local state of emergency during the pandemic.
To learn more about the WeHo Rental Assistance Program visit the City of West Hollywood website at www.weho.org, call the National Council of Jewish Women, Los Angeles-NCJW/LA at: 323 852 7036, and get more information by clicking on the link below: www.ncjwla.org/wehorentalprogram.
