The COVID-19 pandemic put a lot of financial stress on people all over the state of California. One form of relief people had during this time was the state and nationwide eviction moratorium, which prevented landlords from evicting those with past due rent. However, the California eviction moratorium has now expired and tenants are facing eviction if they do not pay past due rent.
If a landlord does want to evict a tenant, they need to submit a formal “pay or quit” notice. If you do receive this notification, the landlord must do several things before they are able to fully evict you. With the help of an Orange County eviction attorney, you can better understand your rights and what your landlord must do first.
Before taking you to court, your landlord does need to wait either 3 or 15 days, depending on the timeframe from when the past due rent is owed, after sending you the “pay or quit” notice. This will provide you with time to send a formal response letter to the landlord. If you have received a 15 day notice, within 15 days of receiving the notice, you should request that the landlord seek assistance under the Rent Relief Program. Should the landlord fail or refuse to seek such assistance, you may have a valid defense in a court eviction action.
The state of California has a $5 billion Rent Relief Program that is designed to cover past due rent payments for tenants that suffered from COVID and COVID-19 related hardships. A landlord is required by law to apply for this relief before they are able to have you evicted if you had a COVID related hardship. In many cases, they will not be permitted to complete the eviction process unless they offer evidence that they have been denied after applying for rental relief assistance.
If you are struggling to make rent payments, hiring an Orange County real estate lawyer is always a good idea. When hiring a tenant attorney, Orange County residents will benefit by working with the Katje Law Group. The team here can offer all the support that you need to understand your legal rights under eviction law and ensure you are fully represented during the entire legal process.
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Ms. Katje earned her Juris Doctorate at California Western School of Law, San Diego, California, graduated Cum Laude and was a Dean’s Honor List recipient. She was also a recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award in Contracts I and Contracts II. Ms. Katje was a member of the Law Review and International Law Journal at California Western School Law, where she was an Associate Editor.
