WeHo Temporarily Prohibits Evictions for Non-Payment of Rent During COVID-19 Crisis

March 23, 2020

The City of West Hollywood approved an Urgency Ordinance on Monday, March 16 that protects renters with a temporary moratorium on evictions for nonpayment of rent during the current state of emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This Ordinance applies to nonpayment eviction notices served or filed on or after March 16, 2020 and remains in effect for 60 days, unless extended. There will be no evictions for lack of rent if due to COVID-19 financial impact.

A link to complete information is available on the City of West Hollywood’s website at www.weho.org/coronavirus by clicking Renter Resources. Additional details about housing information and resources are available at www.weho.org/rent and questions about rental assistance may be directed to the City of West Hollywood’s Social Services Division at (323) 848-6510.

The following is what affected tenants must do to be covered under the Ordinance:

Notify landlords in writing within 30 days of the rental due date of inability to pay rent. Notification “in writing” includes email or text communications to a landlord or the landlord’s representative with whom the tenant has previously corresponded by email or text. Any medical or financial information provided to the landlord shall be held in confidence, and only used for evaluating the tenant’s claim.

State the ways in which they have been financially impacted, this can include:

Caring for myself or family member who is sick with COVID-19
Lay-off, loss of hours, or other income reduction resulting from business closure or other economic or employer impacts of COVID-19
Compliance with a recommendation from a government health authority to stay home, self- quarantine, or avoid congregating with others during the state of emergency
Extraordinary out-of-pocket medical expenses
Child care needs arising from school closures related to COVID-19

Provide documentation, which can include:

COVID-19 positive test result documentation
Letter, email, or texts related to lay-off, loss of hours or other income reduction
Health authority communication about recommendation to stay home, self-quarantine, etc.
Medical bills
Receipts/invoices of child-care costs

The following community organizations assist community members with housing resources in the City of West Hollywood:

Limited Rental Assistance

Aid for AIDS (Alliance for Housing & Healing) (323) 656-1107
- Provides financial assistance to persons living with HIV/AIDS to pay for rent, utilities and pharmaceuticals. The Alliance for Housing and Healing Aging in Place Program provides supplemental rental assistance to all older adults residing in the City of West Hollywood who are experiencing a rent burden.

National Council of Jewish Women (323) 852-7036
- Provides non-sectarian and non-gender-specific rental assistance to West Hollywood residents. Leave a message and your call will be returned.

Free or Low-Cost Legal Resources

Bet Tzedek Legal Services Legal Services | (323) 549-5841 | www.bettzedek.org
- Legal Aid including representation in evictions court. Call for an appointment.
Coalition for Economic Survival (CES)
- For legal support, please e-mail contactCES@earthlink.net. In the email provide your name, phone number, address, whether your unit is rent stabilized or not, and a short summary of the issue. A representative will call you. Weekly Tenant Rights Clinics in Plummer Park are closed until further notice

Eviction Defense Network | (213) 385-8112 | www.evictiondefensenetwork.org
- Representation for LA County tenants facing eviction as long as they seek assistance at least one week before the trial. Fees are based on a sliding scale, but no one is turned away for lack of funds.
Los Angeles County Bar Association — Lawyer Referral and Info Service (213) 243-1525 | www.lacba.org
- This referral service is a nonprofit public service that allows members of the public to find a qualified attorney and get general information about common legal issues. There is no cost to access information through the service and there is no fee to get a referral to an attorney.

Disability Rights California | (800) 776-5746 | http://www.disabilityrightsca.org
- Advocates, educates, investigates, and litigates to advance and protect the rights of Californians with disabilities.

Housing Rights Center | (800) 477-5977 | http://www.hrc-la.org
- Their mission is to actively support and promote fair housing through education, advocacy and litigation, to the end that all persons have the opportunity to secure the housing they desire and can afford without discrimination.

The City of West Hollywood continues to urge community members to follow the LA County Department of Public Health’s Safer at Home Order, which went into effect Thursday, March 19, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. The Order will remain in effect until April 19, 2020, and may be extended. The Order was issued concurrently with orders from Gov. Gavin Newsom calling upon all individuals living in the State of California to stay home in order to reduce transmission of coronavirus.

West Hollywood City Hall is currently closed to the public and is suspending all in-person transactions. All public City buildings and facilities are closed. City Hall will remain accessible for business and essential services with transactions to be conducted by phone (323) 848-6400 and via the City’s website at www.weho.org.

The City of West Hollywood coronavirus updates are available at www.weho.org/coronavirus and the City encourages community members to follow @wehocity on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and turn on notifications for up-to-date information regarding details in the City of West Hollywood.

To view essential-business City meetings, tune in to WeHoTV at:

www.weho.org/wehotv
www.youtube.com/wehotv
Spectrum Channel 10 (in West Hollywood)
AT&T U-verse Channel 99 (in Southern California)
SmartTV Apps: AndroidTV; AppleTV; FireTV; and Roku

For notifications by email, subscribe to the City’s E-Notifications at www.weho.org/email. Visit the City’s event and meetings calendar at www.weho.org/calendar and news archive at www.weho.org/news.

For updates and information about the current numbers of COVID-19 cases in the United States and in Los Angeles County, the spread of the virus, severity, treatments, precautions, and other important public health information in multiple languages, please visit websites for: