The Housing is Key Program provides financial assistance at no cost to landlords and tenants needing help with unpaid rent or utilities because of COVID-19.
Californias Housing is Key program may provide at least temporary protection from evictions for renters who moved before Oct. 1.
The state extended protection from eviction applies only to tenants who applied for rent relief on or before March 31. Assembly Bill 2179 extended the eviction protections until June 30 for Californians who signed up with the state's Housing is Key program or applied for local assistance on or before March 31.
Under new state law (Assembly Bill 2179), a landlord must wait until July 1 to attempt to evict tenants who fell behind on rent from March 2020 through March 2022, unless the landlord applied to Housing is Key and was denied, or the tenant did not notify the landlord they had applied to Californias Housing is Key program. If the tenant has a pending application, a landlord cannot seek to evict you until July for any rental debt owed between April 2020 and March 2022.
Once the landlord has filed, you will receive notice to file information to finalize the application process. If you are a rental tenant who is income-eligible and if the landlord is also participating in the program, then a joint application must be completed.
The program's rental assistance goes directly to the landlords if they participate; otherwise, assistance goes to renters, who are required to give it to the renters of their landlords.
Assistance through Housing is Keys rent assistance program does not count toward earned income (for renters) or impact eligibility for any other welfare aid programs, like CalFresh or CalWORKS.
If you live in a jurisdiction that has its own rent assistance program, like Sacramento, Oakland, and Fresno, the programs in your area can continue to accept applications through March 31.
This means if you live in a jurisdiction where your city or county is managing a rent relief program (and is not going through Californias Housing Is Key program) and they let you file a rental assistance application after April 1, you may still get evicted, even though you are waiting on your city or county rent assistance. If you already submitted a housing Is Key application, there is the possibility the state might let you reapply for more funding, including prospective months.
The State of California's Housing Is Key rent relief program is set to close its application period beginning March 31, 2022, though the moratorium on evictions continues long after March 31 for landlords in Los Angeles County and in some jurisdictions across northern California.
A substantial factor determining how quickly the Program can process applications is the degree to which applicants are responsive, insuring that all relevant documentation has been submitted to expedite eligibility determinations under the Program.
The CA COVID-19 rent relief application portal will close after March 31. As such, CA COVID-19 Rent Relief has been able to make payments on an expedited basis and to assure all qualifying applications seeking relief filed on or before March 31 are paid.
As of March 22, almost 215,000 households had received the relief, and more than $2.47 billion has been paid, an average of more than $11,000 per household.
The state of California has increased funding to renters and their COVID-19-impacted landlords with income eligibility, covering 100% of past due rent or utilities.
In addition to paying tenants past due rent, the program partners with non-profits like California Rural Legal Assistance, Santa Cruz County Community Action Council, Community Bridges, and United Way to settle disputes, provide education sessions with renters and landlords, and assist individuals in applying for state programs.
While SB2179 expanded the protections built into the program--landlords, for example, must seek mediation first and allow their tenants the opportunity to find assistance before issuing an eviction--the deadline for signing up to Housing is Key is March 31.
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