County extends eviction moratorium through June 30, but makes no promises beyond that

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors this week extended its residential and commercial eviction moratorium through at least June 30, the shorter of two terms that were up for consideration.

Supervisor Sheila Kuehl wanted to extend the moratorium through August 31, saying that it would line up with the Department of Health’s projection that stay-at-home orders would extend through the end of August, according to the L.A. Daily News.

Supervisor Kathryn Barger argued to extend it through June and evaluate the moratorium every 30 days beyond that. Barger’s amendment passed with a 3-2 vote.

The debate over the moratorium weighed the interests of landlords and renters — a longer moratorium helps renters stay housed, but potentially puts some landlords in a financial pickle. Landlords and trade groups argued against any extension at all.

Aaron Taxy with the Building Owners and Managers Association of Greater Los Angeles said that a solution for the housing and rent issue “should not come disproportionately to cripple our own business,” and claimed that some members of the organization had lost 70 percent of their rental income since the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Separate motions created special rules for some commercial tenants. Tenants that are multinational, publicly traded, or have more than 100 employees are no longer protected from eviction. Those with 10-100 tenants have six months to pay rent, half that of residential tenants under the county’s moratorium.

The board also passed motions to push state and federal officials to provide more rent and mortgage relief and to direct staff to research ways to help tenants, homeowners and landlords in the months to come. [LADN] — Dennis Lynch