California lawmakers extend eviction ban for some renters

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Tens of thousands of Californians facing eviction on Friday for not paying their rent will get to stay in their homes for at least another three months after state lawmakers voted Thursday to extend a law that protects them just hours before it was scheduled to expire.

California will pay off people's unpaid rent if they fell behind on their payments because of the pandemic. People must apply to get the money and state law says they cannot be evicted while their application is pending.

That law was scheduled to expire at midnight Thursday. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of households still have pending applications as of Tuesday. It would have been impossible for the state to process all of those before the deadline, meaning households still waiting to get the money could have been evicted beginning Friday.

Lawmakers voted Thursday to ban evictions for anyone with a pending application until June 30. Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis will sign the bill into law later in the day because Gov. Gavin Newsom has left the state for vacation with his family.

“We're not going to allow for Californians to suffer, to lose their homes or even their income because of application processing times,” said Assemblymember Tim Grayson, a Democrat from Concord who wrote the bill.

While the bill will stop evictions for people who have applied for assistance, it will not give renters more time to apply for help. California's Emergency Rental Assistance Program will stop accepting new applications at midnight on Thursday. The program has been open for more than a year. But housing advocates say many people have still not applied because they don't speak English or have had trouble gathering the necessary documents to determine their eligibility.

Carmen Rivera, 54, said she...