Senate Bill 847
Homeowners Relief Act
Introduced Jan 13, 2022
SUMMARY
SB 847 closes the coverage gap for tenants
and homeowners who have applied and been
rejected from the state rental assistance
program.
THE PROBLEM
As of July 2021, more than 1.8 million
homeowners were behind on their
mortgages. Many of these homeowners own
rental property. When federal mortgage
forbearance ends, they may be forced to
remove their rental units from the market
and sell them in order to avoid foreclosure.
BACKGROUND
The Federal Emergency Rental Assistance
Program has provided $5.2 Billion to
California to pay rent for some low-income
tenants who have been unable to pay their
rent. The Program only provides rental
assistance for tenants who make less than or
equal to 80% of the area median income
(“AMI”).
There are property owners with tenants who
are behind on their rent but will never
receive any form of government rental
assistance because they earn too much
money to qualify for the Program.
At the same time, California law allowed
tenants to pay just 25 percent of their past
rent, and in return, they received permanent
protection from eviction for the remainder of
the unpaid rent. They are not required to
apply for funding through the Rental
Assistance Program. Rental property owners
can attempt to collect unpaid rent from the
tenant by filing a small claims court action,
but they are not allowed to evict the tenant.
Local governments continue to enforce even
stricter eviction bans. In the City of Los
Angeles, homeowners are not allowed to
evict a tenant who has claimed a COVID
hardship for nonpayment of rent or collect
until June 2023, even if the tenant has not
paid the 25 percent required by state law. In
Alameda County, homeowners are
prohibited from ever evicting any tenants for
non-payment of rent due during the
moratorium period – which is in effect
indefinitely – even if the tenant did not
experienced a COVID hardship.
SOLUTION
SB 847 establishes a grant program,
administered by the Department of Housing
and Community Development that allows
for distribution of funds to homeowner
applicants, upon appropriation by the
Legislature.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Marisol Ibarra, Legislative Director
Office of Senator Melissa Hurtado
[email protected]; (916) 651-4014