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LA landlords demand rent as confusion reigns over hardship relief
Some property managers have told their tenants to send them their stimulus money packages
The City of Los Angeles has barred landlords from evicting tenants struggling financially, but some landlords continue to share confusing information about checks being due.
In some cases, landlords are asking their tenants to sign restrictive repayment agreements. Others have told tenants they need a stack of paperwork proving they’re unable to pay rent, according to the L.A. Times.
The city requires neither — tenants only need to notify their landlords they can’t pay rent within seven days of the first of the month. They have a year to pay it back because of a City Council measure adopted last month.
Renter Simona Boneva’s landlord, Rom Residential, told her to send them any money she received from last month’s federal stimulus package as well as any money she received from charity.
Bovena didn’t sign the agreement and Rom Residential told the Times that letter was a draft that shouldn’t have been sent to tenants.
Dan Yukelson, the executive director for the landlord trade group Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, said landlords are struggling to determine what relief they might be entitled to and what rules they need to follow with tenants.
Other landlords have been able to collect rent. A tenant in a building management by Crescent Canyon Management paid her rent after her the company said tenants needed to submit bank statements and pay stubs to prove hardship. Crescent said all back rent was due after the city’s emergency declaration was over, which isn’t true.
Crescent said it’s no longer saying so to tenants, saying “any confusion related to prior notices was unintentional.” [LAT] — Dennis Lynch