The Los Angeles City Council approved sweeping protections for renters on Jan. 20 before the end of the COVID-19 emergency declaration on Jan. 31. An eviction moratorium tied to the declaration will also end on that date.

Taking additional steps, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion on Jan. 24 that extends COVID-19 eviction protections for low-income renters countywide through the end of March.

While the City Council did not extend the eviction moratorium, the approved protections will prohibit evictions citywide without just cause such as unpaid rent, lease violations and unpermitted move-ins; establish a threshold for money owed before tenants can be evicted; and require landlords to pay relocation assistance when rents are raised by more than 10%. The just cause protections had been in place for rent-stabilized units in Los Angeles built prior to 1978, and the council’s approval on Jan. 20 extends the protections to an addition 400,000 units in buildings built during the following decades.

Los Angeles City Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez, 13th District, pushed for the tenant protections. The package of rules is intended to prevent people from becoming homeless after the eviction moratorium expires. Under existing city rules, renters who owe back rent after Jan. 31 will have a grace period of six to 12 months to pay.

Under the new package of rules, the threshold for evictions for unpaid rent will be based on amounts designated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. The thresholds increase depending on the size of a unit, with the minimum amount of $1,500 for a studio apartment.

“We were elected to represent workers, families and vulnerable tenants making minimum wage, not corporate landlords who have been profiting off our city for far too long,” Soto-Martinez said in a statement. “Keeping people out of homelessness isn’t controversial. It’s the least we can do.”

Councilwoman Katy Young Yaroslavsky, 5th District, also supported the package of tenant protections.

“Half of the equation to solving homelessness is preventing people from losing their housing in the first place. If you have a roof over your head, you’re not, by definition, homeless. And one of the best ways to keep folks housed is through these common sense tenant protections,” Yaroslavksy said in a statement. “To be clear, there is more that we as a council and a city can and must do to support both tenants and mom and pop landlords, and I stand ready to work with my colleagues on the City Council to advance additional protections and programs.”

The motions were approved by the full council after being forwarded on Jan. 18 by the Housing and Homelessness Committee, which is chaired by Councilwoman Nithya Raman, 4th District.

“Housing stability is vital to combat so many of the challenges L.A. is facing right now: displacement, gentrification, segregation, homelessness, population loss and more,” Raman said in a statement after the vote.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor’s motion further extends protections for renters countywide and complements rules in the city of Los Angeles. It extends the county’s existing protections against evictions for nonpayment of rent due to COVID-19 related impacts for low-income tenants, and for those unauthorized occupants and pets, through the end of March. It also set in motion a process for creating rental assistance programs for renters and property owners.

“We must protect renters from the increased harm and destabilization that the COVID-19 emergency has caused for our region, especially with our concurrent state of emergency regarding homelessness,” said Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, 3rd District, author of the county’s tenant protection motion. “With the magnitude of people still getting sick, still out of work and continuing to die from this emergency, it is essential that we keep folks cared for in stable housing. Continued and expanded protections are critical for both renters and property owners, and the cost and consequences of doing nothing will be dire. We simply cannot afford to abandon our most vulnerable residents who are facing down these compounded crises.”