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JOINT STATEMENT: Bill Sponsors for Homelessness Prevention Fund Disappointed with Governor Newsom’s Veto, Resolved to Pass Through Budget Process

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

With strong votes in the legislature and the Governor’s general support, tenant advocates will continue to push for a legal defense fund for tenants experiencing eviction.  

As sponsors of AB 1487, we are disappointed that the Governor has vetoed the bill, which would establish a Homelessness Prevention Fund at the state level. The lack of legal representation for California tenants experiencing eviction is a fundamental fuel for economic and racial inequality. If the state is truly interested in achieving equity, there is no other option but to address this need, which was a problem well before the pandemic. However, we recognize that the reason for the veto was the lack of a specific budget appropriation, and we are glad the Governor’s message recognizes the importance of delivering eviction prevention services to struggling tenants in the most effective, efficient, and successful way possible.

AB 1487 recognizes the need to take a preventative approach to evictions and acknowledges the need for tenants to be represented by counsel. We look forward to continuing our efforts to build on lessons learned in delivering eviction prevention services, and to ensure that state resources dedicated to this purpose are delivered with a recognition of the needs and lived experience of struggling renters. We are proud to have advanced AB 1487 through both houses of the legislature with a strong endorsement of the policy and the ongoing need it seeks to address, and we thank Assembly member Gabriel for his strong leadership in authoring this bill.

The need for increased resources and enhanced delivery of services in preventing avoidable evictions is long-standing, and the COVID-19 pandemic has made it especially clear. The eviction process in California and the protections our state has chosen to put in place for tenants are complex, operate on very short timelines, and have extreme consequences for those forced to navigate them without assistance. While landlords overwhelmingly have the benefit of an attorney in evictions, the vast majority of tenants do not, forcing them to do their best to assert their rights, respond to court documents, and participate in the process on their own. 

This situation pre-dates the pandemic, and the need to address the dynamic is made clearer by the reality that millions of tenants who are behind on rent, through no fault of their own, are currently navigating a complex set of court protections and doing their best to apply for rental assistance at the same time. Outreach and education, coupled with legal assistance when problems arise, is incredibly important as millions of tenants navigate these unnecessarily complex systems or face the prospect of homelessness. 

Measures like AB 1487 are preventative medicine for California’s housing crisis, and we must recognize that the best way to prevent evictions is to utilize the strength of community-based outreach organizations, legal service providers, and local governments so tenants and landlords are aware of their rights and responsibilities and can successfully resolve issues before they lead to eviction. 

We need a permanent solution to ensure every Californian has the resources and support they need to remain housed and prevent homelessness as they navigate the complex eviction system. AB 1487 would ensure that the protections California’s Legislature and administration put in place translate to real, enforceable rights. We look forward to working with the Legislature and Governor in the coming year to make sure renters across the state can successfully assert their rights, and that California communities benefit from the increased housing security and stability a Homelessness Prevention Fund can provide.

Thank you to the many coalition partners and allies across the state that led and contributed to this campaign. Over 80 organizations endorsed the bill.  

 

Press‌ ‌Contact:‌ ‌ ‌Sasha Harnden,‌ ‌Public Policy Advocate,‌ ‌Inner City Law Center,‌ aharnden[at]innercitylaw.org – (habla español)

Did you get an eviction notice in California? Don’t leave yet. Follow these steps

“In California, the statewide eviction moratorium ended September 30. That means starting this month, landlords can issue eviction notices for nonpayments. Those notices are typically issued as a three day, pay or quit notice both nailed to the door and sent via mail, according to Tina Rosales, an attorney and policy advocate with the Western Center on Law and Poverty. “We are getting an uptick in nonpayment of rent evictions, and those are three-day evictions to pay the rent or to leave,” Rosales said.”

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Panel discusses end of eviction moratorium

“Annenberg School of Communication’s Center for Health Journalism hosted a webinar Wednesday to discuss the implications of the moratorium’s end, as well as other pandemic aid programs. The panelists focused on the effects the end of these programs will have on low-income communities, discussing which tenants are most at risk, why some tenants have faced challenges to access aid and how journalists can use the power of storytelling to convey the tenants’ struggles.

Michelle Levander, the founding director of the Center for Health Journalism, moderated the webinar and introduced the panelists — Peter Hepburn, assistant professor of global urban studies and urban systems at Rutgers University, Kriston Capps, staff writer for Bloomberg CityLab in Washington, D.C. and Tina Rosales, an advocate on the housing team of the Western Center on Law and Poverty.”

Panel discusses end of eviction moratorium

California measure aims to pay off 80% of most unpaid rent

“This really sort of puts the ball into the landlords’ court in a way that we’re not quite happy with,” said Cynthia Castillo, policy advocate for the Western Center on Law and Poverty. “It does the urgent work of extending the (eviction) moratorium, which we were very concerned about.”

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Study: Lifting eviction moratoriums leads to higher COVID-19 case rates, deaths

“The researchers noted that not everyone who contracted the virus as a result of lifted moratoriums had necessarily been evicted. Rather, some of the additional cases and deaths were caused by what Madeline Howard, senior housing attorney at the Western Center on Law and Poverty, called a “ripple effect” of people moving in with friends and family, couch surfing, or crowding homeless encampments. “It’s not only about people affected by the evictions, it hurts the whole community,” said Howard.”

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California legislature passes compromise pandemic anti-eviction bill

“The Western Center on Law & Poverty… called the protections in the new bill “critical,” and urged that it be passed and signed. However, the Center said, “AB 3088 is only part of the solution … We still need a long-term solution to the pandemic’s financial consequences for tenants, small landlords, and affordable housing providers. Our organizations are committed to working with stakeholders, the legislature and the governor to ensure that new legislation to provide the long-term fix is ready to be enacted by the end of January.”