Tenant rights and anti-poverty groups scored a major victory in June in reaching a legal settlement with the State of California over rental assistance payments for tenants impacted during the COVID crisis. As a result of the settlement, more than 100,000 tenants whose applications for rental assistance were either denied or delayed will have their applications reconsidered. Eligible tenants are those who submitted applications to the State prior to April 1, 2022, and whose application was denied or was not yet approved after June 6, 2022.
While applicants will not automatically receive approvals, the agreement will require that the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) audit its program, which received $5.2 billion in federal relief funding in 2021 to provide rental assistance for tenants impacted by the economic shutdown. Additionally, the State must make it easier for tenants whose first language is not English to access funding.
The lawsuit was filed by Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, PolicyLink, and Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, which charged that HCD had rejected more than 30% of all applications submitted, totaling more than 130,000 households.
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