The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has postponed a decision on the future of its COVID-19 eviction moratorium.

Supervisors on Dec. 8 were prepared to renew and amend their ordinance, which expires Jan. 31, 2021. CAA, however, said it would be premature to act now, pointing to the possible extension or replacement of a statewide COVID-19 eviction moratorium.

Like L.A. County’s eviction ban, the statewide eviction protections are scheduled to sunset at the end of January. In Sacramento, however, lawmakers already are proposing bills to either replace AB 3088 or extend it, with timetables ranging from two months to all of next year.

“As a housing provider, I am doing everything I can to be part of the solution,” says a sample letter to the board provided by CAA. “I encourage the Board of Supervisors to see what happens with any extension of the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act by the California Legislature. There should be more robust rental assistance to those renters who have lost income since they’re prevented from working due to the pandemic and the related government orders limiting business operations.”

In the end, the board tabled any action on its eviction moratorium until early 2021.  CAA staff will continue to work with the county to reform the most unreasonable and counterproductive aspects of the local moratorium. For example, the L.A. County ordinance only allows evictions based on threats to health and safety. This creates an unreasonably high bar for terminating tenancies, as it excludes lease violations like creating nuisances at the property or subletting a unit on a short-term rental website.