Beverly Hills Approves $1.1M Rent Relief Program

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — The Beverly Hills City Council voted last week to provide $450,000 extra to help city residents affected by COVID-19 pay their rent. The program, originally approved in September, will pay landlords directly to help stave off a wave of potential evictions as the coronavirus pandemic enters one of its worst phases yet.

The program will offer eligible residents up to $1000 a month for three months to make up their remaining balance of unpaid rent. The money will be paid directly to landlords on the condition that they grant tenants a year to pay back rent, and do not evict any tenants for a year.

Beverly Hills tenants can apply from Nov. 16 until Dec. 7. In order to be eligible, applicants must currently reside in a multi-family building in a unit subject to rent stabilization, which includes most multi-family units in the city, except condominiums, co-ops, hotels, and buildings issued certificates of occupancy after 1995 (see regulations here.)

Applicants must also pay a monthly rent of $4,000 or less, not receive funds from other rent subsidy programs, and make less than 80 percent of the area median income, or $90,100 for a family of four. Applicants must also have a history of being undisruptive tenants.

Priority will be given to seniors and households with children enrolled in the Beverly Hills Unified School District. To apply, applicants must provide proof of Beverly Hills residency, the most recent lease agreement, proof of financial impact from COVID-19, proof of income, and proof of senior citizen status or enrollment in BHUSD, if applicable. Applications can be found here. Questions about the program can be directed to the Beverly Hills Rent Stabilization Office at 310-285-1031.

During a Nov. 10 City Council meeting, councilmembers disagreed on whether the program was sufficient to meet the city's needs. Councilmember John Mirisch advocated for more money, and said he believed the program could "easily" add another $550,000, and speculated even that may not be enough . "These are desperate times - we've heard pleas from people," he said.

Councilmember Lili Bosse agreed with Mirisch, and said she feels the program took too long to go into effect. "A lot of residents have been very frustrated with how long this has taken," she said. "They're all suffering. For me, that's another reason why I do feel that we should look into adding more money to it."

Councilmember Julian Gold said that the Council should wait until applications come in to get a better sense of the need. "I think we may have to add more money, I think that's a good thing to do, but I do think it should be based on something and not a spitball over how much money we should put over it," he said.

The Council agreed to discuss potential funding increases at their Dec. 1 meeting.

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