Assembly Member Santiago, Councilmember De León and Community Partners Hold Eviction Moratorium and Rent Relief Press Conference

(Los Angeles, CA) – Assembly Member Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) joined community partners and LA City Councilmember Kevin De León for a press conference in Los Angeles announcing the most recent state efforts to extend the state’s eviction moratorium and increase rent relief to tenants and landlords. This includes AB 832, which extends the moratorium to September 30 and has the state pay up to 100% of back rent for low-income tenants. Additionally, the press conference discussed city and county efforts on rent relief and how they will help residents as the original June 30 deadline is in only a few days.

“We are facing a potential eviction and homelessness crisis,” said Assembly Member Miguel Santiago. “We need to build back boldly from this pandemic and that means ensuring all Californians regardless of income feel our economic growth. We can do that by pushing for AB 832 to protect our low-income tenants.”

"We have barely begun our recovery from the epic crisis of COVID-19 that positioned Los Angeles at the epicenter of the nation's pandemic,” said Councilmember Kevin De León. “We can hardly afford to compound the challenges of this recovery with another crisis that would result in thousands of evictions. We need a win-win that will give renters extended protections and landlords a financial backstop."

"We applaud the leadership of Assemblymember Miguel Santiago and Councilmember De León in urging the state to take swift action to extend the eviction moratorium and  increase rent relief to stave off evictions,” said Susie Shannon, the Policy Director of Housing is a Human Right. “With 161,000 people homeless in CA, and over 40,000 here in Los Angeles, it is critical that the legislature pass AB 832 today to prevent increasing homelessness."

“Many of our members lost jobs and income due to the pandemic,” said Alexandra Suh, the Executive Director of the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance. “There was no way to pay the rent and people are under heavy stress, concerned about their families. Providing relief for COVID-related rent debt to the lowest-income Californians is a major step forward, and pushing back the day landlords can try to collect to October 1 gives us some breathing room. Most important is the existing provision that tenants cannot be evicted solely for non-payment of rent due to COVID if they submit a statement in writing. We need to make sure people are aware of the protections they have. In taking all these steps, our state legislature and Governor Newsom will help to keep many California workers and their families in their homes.”

"Although our economy is quickly picking up, our communities remain disenfranchised. We encourage all Angelenos and Californians to apply for rental relief through the various agencies across our state. We are here to help,” the Executive Director of the Bresee Foundation, Seth Eklund, said.

With only a few days away from the original state eviction moratorium deadline of June 30, the legislature is working to prevent mass evictions and a potential increase in homelessness as the state recovers from COVID-19.

Assemblymember Miguel Santiago is the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Communications and Conveyance Committee and the Assembly Select Committee on Los Angeles County Homelessness. He also sits on the Assembly Committee on Health, Public Safety, Higher Education and Utilities and Energy. He represents the 53rd District composed of the cities of Los Angeles, Huntington Park, and Vernon.