LA County considers reviving COVID-era eviction policy to aid immigrant renters

Recent federal immigration raids in the Los Angeles area have separated breadwinners from their families, leaving many struggling to pay rent. In response, county leaders are reviving an idea dating back to the COVID-19 pandemic: pausing evictions for those who can’t pay rent on time.

The L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 Tuesday, with Supervisor Kathryn Barger absent, to instruct county lawyers to report back to the board in two weeks on options for a new “eviction moratorium” related to the immigration raids.

The plan, as written, would be to target relief to “individuals or households that have been financially impacted, lost employment or had family members taken by federal agents.”

The county’s proposal will need further consideration and approval in future votes before any new limits on eviction are enacted.

The board also voted Tuesday to approve a new $30 million rent-relief program designed to assist tenants affected by the federal immigration detentions, as well as those who lost homes or income in January’s fires.

“Los Angeles County will never look away when our neighbors are living in fear of losing both their homes and their livelihoods,” said Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who co-authored the eviction moratorium and rent-relief proposals with Supervisor Hilda Solis.

The culmination of months of advocacy

Tenant advocates have been pushing for new limits on evictions since shortly after the immigration raids began earlier this summer.

Landlords have consistently pushed back on those demands, saying broad eviction protections during the COVID-19 pandemic were disastrous. They say many tenants moved out without ever paying back-rent, leaving landlords to cover the costs.

Many landlords say the county should leave normal eviction rules in place and instead rely solely on targeted rent relief for families falling behind.

“What was once intended as a rare, extraordinary power has become a routine political tool,” said Matt Buck with the California Apartment Association.

He argued during public comment in Tuesday’s meeting that the rules would be confusing for landlords, who are legally barred from asking tenants about their immigration status.

“It would create uncertainty for housing providers, encourage stricter screening and drag property owners into federal enforcement policy disputes,” Buck said.

Fires prompted earlier eviction moratorium

County leaders previously enacted a six-month eviction moratorium for fire victims, which ended earlier this summer. Tenant advocates said during Tuesday’s meeting that the same protections were needed for immigrant families.

“Without support from L.A. County, immigrants who have lost income due to the ICE raids will face eviction and homelessness,” said Yaritza Gonzalez with the Central American Resource Center, a legal services provider.

Some local elected leaders lauded the county’s move toward an eviction moratorium. L.A. City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez wrote a message of support, urging the board “to adopt the motion, and to ensure that any protections enacted are robust, enforceable and safeguard any private information of impacted families.”

These limits on eviction have proven difficult to pass in other local government bodies. Earlier this year, the L.A. City Council considered but ultimately rejected eviction protections for tenants affected by the January fires.

Jobs lost because of raids

Detainees aren’t the only ones struggling to keep up with their families’ rent. Some workers who have not been detained are still unable to work because they or their employers fear being targeted in further sweeps.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently allowed L.A. raids to resume by overturning lower court rulings that sided with immigrant advocates who argued the detentions are based on nothing more than racial profiling.

UC Merced researchers estimated that immediately after the initial federal raids in Los Angeles, employment in the state fell by 3.1%.

But some landlord groups don’t agree that the impacts have been widespread.

“Very few renters are being directly impacted by recent ICE enforcement activities,” said Jesus Rojas with the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles. “Rental assistance is a much better solution for low-income renters being impacted.”

Rent-relief program priorities

The rent-relief program passed by county supervisors Tuesday is scheduled to launch within 90 days.

The program's nearly $30 million will be prioritized for renters who lost homes or work during the January fires, as well as small landlords struggling to repair fire damage, according to the county proposal. After those groups, relief will go to tenants who’ve experienced financial shocks from the federal immigration raids.

Applicants will be eligible for funding covering up to six months of missed rent payments, with a cap of $15,000 total. The program will be launched by the county’s Department of Consumer and Business Affairs.