On Tuesday, Oct. 20, the Glendale City Council adopted a revised Emergency Eviction Moratorium Order aligning the repayment schedule for past due rent with Assembly Bill No. 3088 (“AB 3088”). Under Assembly Bill No. 3088, Glendale’s residential eviction moratorium was modified to have expired on Aug. 31, 2020.

Here is what people need to know about the repayment schedule:

Those who were unable to pay all or some of their rent between March 1, 2020 and Aug. 31, 2020:

• If your landlord gives you a notice to “pay or quit,” they must provide a notification which explains your rights and obligations. (A notice to “pay or quit” is a notice from your landlord that gives you a certain amount of time to pay the outstanding rent you owe or vacate your home.)
• You cannot be evicted if you return a declaration of COVID-19 related financial distress, signed under penalty of perjury, and returned within 15 business days of receiving a notice to “pay or quit.”
• Your landlord must provide this declaration to you to complete and sign, and it must be in the language of your rental agreement. It is very important that you provide the signed declaration within 15 business days or an eviction proceeding may be filed against you.
• If your household income is more than 130% of the median household income in your county and more than $100,000, your landlord may demand proof of your COVID-19 related hardship be provided to support your declaration. There are several things you can use to satisfy this requirement, such as a tax return, pay stubs, and a statement from your employer, among other things.
• If you are unable to provide the declaration to your landlord within 15 business days, you may still submit the declaration to the court for similar protections if you have a “good reason” for not providing it. “Good reasons” include mistakes, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect as interpreted in the California Code of Civil Procedure.

Those who were unable to pay all or some of their rent between Sept. 1, 2020 and Jan. 31, 2021:

• All of the same rights and obligations above apply. In addition, by Jan. 31, 2021, you must pay at least 25% of the rent due during the period of Sept. 1, 2020 through Jan. 31, 2021. You may do this by paying at least 25% each month, or by paying a lump sum equaling 25% of your rent during the time period, or by some other means.

The key thing to remember is that by Jan. 31, 2021  you must pay 25% of the rent due between Sept. 1, 2020 through Jan. 31, 2021.

Other Things You Need to Know

• Please understand that despite the protections below, you will still owe back rent that is due to your landlord.
• Beginning March 1, 2021, landlords can take tenants to small claims court to recover unpaid rent debt regardless of how much the tenant owes. Also please understand that, no matter what, beginning Feb. 1, 2021, you will have to pay the full amount of your rent to be protected from eviction.
• Until Feb. 1, 2021, a landlord can only evict a tenant if they provide a legally valid reason.
• It is illegal for a landlord to give a tenant a 30- or 60-day eviction notice without a stated reason. This is commonly known as a “no-cause” eviction. The stated reason must match one of the valid reasons allowed by the law, a “just cause” eviction.
• Landlords who do such things as lock tenants out, remove personal property or shut off utility services to evict a tenant, rather than going through the required court process, could face fines of between $1,000 and $2,500. These penalties are in effect until Feb. 1, 2021.

Rent Freeze

The City of Glendale’s temporary rent freeze order is set to expire on Oct. 31, 2020. The City’s order prohibits residential rent increases for many rental properties in Glendale, excluding single family homes, individual units in condominium buildings, and units constructed after Feb. 1, 1995. Any notices issued during the rent freeze or notices issued before the rent freeze that were to go in effect during the rent freeze period are invalid. A new rent increase will not be effective until the rent freeze expires and a new notice of rent increase is issued in accordance with state law.

For more information, visit glendaleca.gov.