Thousands of Californians in limbo as eviction protections end

Since September 2020, the Legislature has passed and Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed four laws shielding tenants who were unable to pay rent due to COVID-19 from eviction. The most recent extension shielded tenants through June 30 who had applied for rent relief from the state's $5 billion program by the March 31 deadline but had yet to hear back or receive payments. Those tenants can now be brought to court by their landlords.

The state Department of Housing and Community Development, which administers the program through a contractor, said on July 1 they had approved all complete applications for eligible tenants. Geoffrey Ross, a deputy director handling the program, said they are still processing 13,000 applications that are either missing documentation, or represent an appeal following a denial. They expect to clear all pending applications by early August.

Using data from June 23, PolicyLink, which has been reviewing weekly program data from the state through Public Record Act requests, found more than 28,000 initial applicants and 57,000 people who reapplied have not yet heard back from the program. Ross from the housing department said the data, albeit produced by the state, has"flaws within the interpretation" but declined to comment on specifics.

"I think it's no secret that it's had challenges," she said."And while I'm sympathetic to some of the challenges we've had as a state government in terms of dealing with a global pandemic that none of us anticipated, it's also our job as government to run well especially when you're talking about critical social safety nets."

More than 135,000 people — or nearly a third of all households — who applied for rent relief had their applications rejected as of June 17, according to data CalMatters obtained from the housing department through the Public Records Act. That number spiked in the last few weeks as the program wound down. The lawsuit, which cites the same set of data, says tenants are receiving little to no explanation for their denials, which makes it difficult to contest the final decision.

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