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California renters behind on rent have one more day to apply for California's COVID-19 rent relief program.
Renters and landlords in the state can apply for assistance covering rent that is past due or that is coming up in the future. Assembly Bill 2179 is being heard on the floor of the Senate today for final discussions -- the bill aims to pause evictions for renters who have a relief application processing. Lawmakers are deciding today if they will extend that renter protection until June 30th. State officials say more than 220,000 applicants have been approved for an average of almost $11,500 in funding - of the ones submitted, 76,000 applications were denied. The average application process in the state takes up to about 90 days to full process, and of the approved applications, nearly 35% are from Hispanic households - 12% of the applications submitted in Spanish.
"Two, three weeks ago, we were processing around 8,000 applications per week. We are right now at about 10,000. We predict to be as high as 14,000 per week so, that we finish reviewing and paying out all the applications that are warranted for the program that is pending," said Gustavo Velásquez, Director of Housing and Community Development. Renters who do not apply to the program by this deadline of June 30 won't receive any protections, and could receive eviction orders as soon as the start of April.
To apply or check rent status, renters can go to https://housing.ca.gov/.