Source: AAGLA

On Friday, January 29th, Senate Bill 91 was signed by Governor Newsom. With its passage, up to $2.6 billion in Federal COVID relief funding will be used to pay landlords of certain qualifying low-income renters up to 80% of rent owed due COVID-19 financial hardships.

Senate Bill 91 extends Assembly Bill 3088’s eviction protections which had an expiration date of January 31, 2021.  The new expiration date will be June 30, 2021.

Rental housing providers are not allowed to use security deposits or any rent payments to cover past due rent without written permission from their tenants.

NEW FORMS: With the passage of Senate Bill 91, a series of new legal forms and notices are being made available to all Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles members in the Forms Library under Section K, “New S.B. 91 and A.B. 3088 Compliance.”  A description of the new forms are as follows:

Notice of COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act [K.1]

• (Updated for S.B. 91) – THIS FORM IS DUE BY FEBRUARY 28, 2021
• Rental housing providers must, once again, serve a notice from the State of California to all tenants who have missed one or more rental payments. This new notice form must be served by February 28, 2021. For each month thereafter, if tenants do not pay all of their rent due, rental housing providers should continue to serve the new 15-Day Notice for unpaid rent, along with this new, informational notice from the State of California.
• **This notice must be provided to tenants who as of FEBRUARY 1, 2021 had not paid one or more rent payments between MARCH 1, 2020 and JANUARY 31, 2021 and such rent amounts are still due and owing. This notice must be provided to all such tenants on or before FEBRUARY 28, 2021.**
• In addition, this Notice should be provided to tenants who do not pay rent due for any monthly periods between February1, 2021 and June 30, 2021. IF YOU FAIL TO PROVIDE THIS NOTICE TO YOUR TENANTS BY FEBRUARY 28, 2021 AND THEREAFTER FOR EACH PERIOD A RENTAL PAYMENT IS MISSED THROUGH JUNE 30, 2021, YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO EVICT YOUR TENANT OR RECOVER RENT PAYMENTS THAT ARE OWED.
• It is suggested owners keep in their records a copy of the Notice and a standard form “Proof of Service” as evidence of providing this notice in addition to any other documentation (e.g., certified return receipt).
• The form provided by Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles is available on our website under “K.1 – Notice of COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act (Updated for S.B. 91)” located here: www.aagla.org/rental-forms

Declaration of COVID-19 Financial Distress [K.2]

• Tenants need to continue paying a minimum of 25% of their rent, but the deadline for that payment is now June 30, 2021. Therefore, a tenant does not have to pay any rent until June 30th so long as they sign and return this new Declaration of Financial Distress form,  one for the period covering March 1, 2020 through January 31, 2021 and then one form for each additional month rent is not paid from February 1, 2021 through June 30, 2021.
• Use this form to provide to your tenant or tenants along with the new “Notice of COVID-19 Relief Act” listed as Form K.1, or along with 15-Day Notice to Pay or Quit, Forms K.3 – K.4. Tenants must sign and return and sign this form to be protected from eviction proceedings.
• The form provided by Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles is available on our website under “K.2 – Declaration of COVID-19 Financial Distress” located here: www.aagla.org/rental-forms

Fifteen (15) Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit for A.B. 91 for NON-High-Income Renters Covering the Periods on or After February 1, 2021 [K.3]

• This form allows the landlord to provide notice to tenants that are not “High Income” tenants and who have not paid a portion of their monthly rent due and still owing during any period on or after February 1, 2021. You must provide Forms K.1 and K.2 along with this 15-day notice form.
• A “High Income” tenant means a tenant with an annual household income of 130 percent (130%) of the area median income, as published by the Department of Housing and Community Development in the Official State Income Limits for 2020, for the county in which the residential rental property is located.  A “High Income” tenant shall not include a tenant with a household income of less than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).  For more information, see the Department of Housing and Community Development website at: https://www.hcd.ca.gov/grants-funding/income-limits/state-and-federal-income-limits/docs/Income-Limits-2020.pdf.
• The form provided by Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles is available on our website under “K.3 – Fifteen (15) Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit for A.B. 91 for NON-High-Income Renters Covering the Periods on or After February 1, 2021” located here: www.aagla.org/rental-forms

For more Industry News, visit the AAGLA site.