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CITY COUNCIL TO DECIDE ON EVICTION MORATIUM
Following weeks of indecision and canceled meetings, the Rent Board updated its proposal to Pasadena City Council for protecting wildfire victims on Thursday February 27th.
The original proposal mainly mirrored the existing LA County regulations for a targeted 6-month eviction defense for fire victims, but the last-minute update extends that to 12 months, following pressure from the extremists of the Tenants Unions.
That is too long for an eviction moratorium without any kind of review, and tenants will be allowed to "self-certify" that they have been impacted by fires. We saw how this kind of attestation was abused during the Covid eviction moratorium. There is also no support for housing providers who will be left without income for up to a year, and who will have to wait a further 12 months to try to collect the missing rent.
The City Council meets on Monday February 3rd to review this proposal. We have written to them to ask for common-sense adjustments, and we will be represented at the meeting.
HELP US TO HELP YOU by letting the City Council know that this proposal is full of problems:
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The Rent Board's memorandum to the City states that this proposal had unanimous support from its members. This is not true: the original 6-month proposal was unanimously approved on February 6th, but this new proposal did not receive full support on February 27th.
- The 12-month period is too long. The original proposal of six months is in line with Los Angeles County, and can be extended if needed. The City Council should revert to the original six months.
- There is no plan to support housing providers who will foot the bill for this. During the Covid moratoriums, plans were developed to help repay missed rent, and the City Council should ask its staff to work on ways to support housing providers,
- The "self-certification" that tenants were affected is open to abuse. Grant programs, FEMA assistance, and other support for wildfire victims all require some kind of evidence. The City Council should give the same protections to housing providers.
This will be heard as Item 8 at the City Council meeting from 6pm on Monday March 3rd. Please write to Council members using the list below to let them know that we support helping members of our community, but we need help too. You can also dial in using the information on the agenda.
Council Members: ccouncil@cityofpasadena.net
Council Liaisons: districtliaisons@cityofpasadena.net
City email addresses are also available here
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