City Council to Consider Putting Renters on Payment Plan for Missed Installments

On Tuesday in Long Beach, the City Council will consider putting them on a repayment plan with incremental deadlines before the full bill comes due in a year. 

The proposal has set up a fight between tenant-advocacy groups, who say renters are still struggling to make ends meet, and landlords, who say they want some clarity about when the money will be repaid.

Renters have until July 31, 2021, to repay any back rent, but the proposal on Tuesday’s agenda could require them to start making payments on that debt as early as August 31—something landlords have pushed for. 

Susanne Browne, an attorney for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, is concerned a strict plan would hurt residents, who could be at risk of being thrown out of their homes if they don’t make scheduled payments.

“It really just guts the entire eviction moratorium and creates a gaping hole in it that would make tenants vulnerable to eviction. Tenants will not recover from COVID at the same pace,” Browne said. Trying to force them into arbitrary payment plans will set them up for failure and [cause] massive evictions in Long Beach, particularly for Black residents who are disproportionately impacted by COVID,” she said.

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