California Will Simplify Rent Relief Application: Only 2% Sent

OCEANSIDE, CA — Are you struggling to navigate the rent relief process in Oceanside?

A new survey finds tenants are having a hard time accessing the state’s $2.6 billion emergency rent relief, which is contributing to the slow distribution of California’s marquee program to thwart a potential statewide eviction tsunami.

CalMatters reports that a small survey of rent relief providers finds that applicants face language, documentation and digital barriers, but the state has fixes on the way.

With one month until the end of the state’s eviction moratorium, the survey of 177 tenant advocates released Tuesday found that tenants had trouble applying in languages other than English and Spanish, and that a lack of digital proficiency and access to documents showing income losses due to COVID limited tenants’ ability to apply.

Tenant advocates also reported that tenants who cannot contact or who face harassment from their landlords were effectively locked out of full rent relief, since the state’s plan requires landlords to forgive 20% of rental debt in order to receive the remaining 80%. Tenants in that circumstance can still avoid eviction by paying 25% of their rental debt.

All those factors have contributed to California’s slow disbursement of $2.6 billion in rent relief program. Californians have applied for $473 million but only $20 million has been paid out so far, according to the state, which is launching a number of changes to simplify the application process and get more money out the door faster.

In perhaps the most significant news for tenants behind on their rent, Gov. Gavin Newsom this month proposed increasing the reimbursement from 80% to 100%, which would no longer require landlord participation in rent relief. “We would take the landlords who refused to participate out of the equation,” Heimerich said.

The proposal still needs legislative approval, as will budget trailer bills to extend the eviction moratorium, which ends on June 30.

This article is part of the California Divide, a collaboration among newsrooms examining income inequality and economic survival in California.

Related: $211 Million In Rent Relief Money For San Diego Region But Only 2% Has Been Spent