What California’s hardest-hit communities need to prevent evictions when moratoriums end

Despite our collective optimism about “getting back to normal,” the dangers of the pandemic are looming. While vaccinations have slowed the spread of COVID, cases of the rapidly spreading delta variant have risen. Homelessness is a crisis, and many are teetering on the edge of homelessness with no guarantee that rental relief will reach the masses by the end of the month.

To prevent the rapid transmission of COVID, California issued stay-at-home orders and closed businesses. As a result, millions of people lost jobs and were unable to afford their highest cost: rent. Temporary protections were put in place to help people stay in their housing, including the federal eviction moratorium, recently struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the state eviction moratorium, expiring Sept. 30. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in June that the state would pay back 100% of the rent for low-income renters impacted by COVID.

This plan is helpful but insufficient.

Opinion

California has been slow to distribute the $5.2 billion available for rent relief. As of early August, the state had received more than 132,000 rental assistance applications from nearly 91,000 households — amounting to about $1 billion in requested rent relief. Nearly 80% of those who applied are still waiting to have their back rent paid off. Based on analysis conducted by PolicyLink, about 753,000 households in California are behind on rent and owe $2.8 billion total.

Even before the pandemic, Californians lived in fear of becoming unhoused. The state has the nation’s largest homeless population in the world’s fifth-largest economy. We had a $76 billion budget surplus — in addition to the $26 billion provided by the federal American Rescue Plan Act. California’s cities and counties are receiving $16 billion from the legislation, which they should use to offset housing costs at the local level and educate renters on how to access funds. The federal funds don’t have to be used immediately and can be parceled out for long-term projects such as affordable housing.

Policymakers have failed to learn from the pandemic and consider that there’s still a great need for resources in communities throughout the state. Black, Latino and other people of color have been disproportionately impacted by COVID. Once pandemic moratoriums expire, these communities will continue to be hit hardest because the pandemic has amplified health inequities, social injustice, poverty, trauma and mental health issues.

We must recognize the connection between homelessness and systemic racism, which has resulted in unstable housing options and related challenges, such as a lack of access to healthy food, water and poor health outcomes.

In Sacramento, local leaders should be using federal funds to create local communications campaigns (i.e. door hangers, email and phone outreach) to inform renters and landlords about how to get rental debt forgiven. We need to create low-tech, linguistic, culturally accessible application processes for all rental assistance programs to address the digital and cultural divides. No one should be asked to provide their Social Security number or immigration status to qualify for assistance.

California must extend the eviction moratorium until the rental relief funds have reached every eligible renter, which should be expanded to everyone under the area median income. Currently, only those under 80% of the median qualify.

Additionally, local governments need to use the federal rescue funds to create adequate low-income housing and invest in the state renter navigation hotline (833-687-0967) to connect applicants with local partner organizations that can help with their applications.

California legislators and local elected officials must act quickly and diligently to protect marginalized communities. We cannot allow anyone else to call the streets home.

Kimberly Warmsley is a Stockton City Council member. Crystal Sanchez is western regional director of the National Union of the Homeless and president of the Sacramento Homeless Union.