West Hollywood renters are protected from eviction due to COVID-19-related reasons through the end of September. (photo by Cameron Kiszla)

The West Hollywood City Council on June 21 took preemptive action to protect commercial and residential renters.

With a unanimous 4-0 vote – Councilman John D’Amico was absent – the council agreed that if action was not taken at the state or county level, the city would protect renters past the June 30 deadline that was in place for eviction moratoriums.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors took action the next day, June 22, and extended it through Sept. 30, the same date the West Hollywood City Council was set to approve it.

Councilwoman Sepi Shyne called keeping an eviction moratorium in place “a priority for me.”

“This is a real problem. People are still facing financial hurdles,” Shyne said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order earlier this month allowing commercial rent moratoria at the local level to be extended through Sept. 30, but after a vote last year to align West Hollywood’s residential renter protections with the state’s, the city’s residential renters would be without eviction protections after the state moratorium expires on June 30. With the county’s protection now in place, both commercial and residential renters are safe from eviction due to COVID-19-related reasons through the end of September.

“I’m good with having the consistency of having the Sept. 30 date for both residents and businesses,” Mayor Pro Tempore Lauren Meister said. “I just want to make sure the information is getting out there.”