L.A. has a coronavirus eviction ban, but landlords are finding ways to demand rent
When she went to talk to her landlord, the company responded with a letter outlining terms for it to agree to temporary relief and a repayment plan — among them that she turn over any money from a federal stimulus check or from a charity within five days.
“I can’t believe that they would legally be able to do that,” said Boneva, 27, who rents a two-bedroom apartment in East Hollywood with a roommate. “They’re not entitled to the money for your rent above all else.”
Boneva didn’t sign the agreement. The landlord, Rom Residential, says the letter was a draft that never should have been sent to tenants suddenly struggling to pay rent. But the letter is just one example of how many landlords in Los Angeles have been pushing their tenants to agree to repayment plans that are far more onerous than what’s required under state and city laws passed to prevent evictions during the pandemic.
Some have informed tenants that they must produce pay stubs and bank statements, showing how the coronavirus has hurt their incomes. Still others have told tenants that all back rent is due when the government-declared states of emergency end.
Neither is true.
Under the city’s anti-eviction rules, Angelenos simply have to notify their landlord within seven days that they’re unable to pay because of economic or health circumstances caused by the virus, and they have up to a year after the emergency declaration expires to pay past-due rent.
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Elena Popp, an attorney and director of the Eviction Defense Network, said that since April 1, nearly two dozen tenants in L.A. have sent her letters from their landlords, asking for financial statements or repayment obligations that go beyond what the city says is required.
https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2020-04-05/coronavirus-rent-landlords-pressuring-tenants-los-angeles
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