NOTICE FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA:
The California Legislature has enacted the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020 which protects renters
who have experienced COVID-19-related financial distress from being evicted for failing to make rental
payments due between March 1, 2020, and January 31, 2021.
“COVID-19-related financial distress” means any of the following:
1. Loss of income caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Increased out-of-pocket expenses directly related to performing essential work during the COVID-19
pandemic.
3. Increased expenses directly related to the health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
4. Childcare responsibilities or responsibilities to care for an elderly, disabled, or sick family member
directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic that limit your ability to earn income.
5. Increased costs for childcare or attending to an elderly, disabled, or sick family member directly
related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
6. Other circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic that have reduced your income or increased
your expenses.
This law gives you the following protections:
1. If you failed to make rental payments due between March 1, 2020, and August 31, 2020, because
you had decreased income or increased expenses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as described
above, you cannot be evicted based on this nonpayment.
2. If you are unable to pay rental payments that come due between September 1, 2020, and January
31, 2021, because of decreased income or increased expenses due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
as described above, you cannot be evicted if you pay 25 percent of the rental payments missed
during that time period on or before January 31, 2021.
You must provide, to your landlord, a declaration under penalty of perjury of your COVID-19-related
financial distress attesting to the decreased income or increased expenses due to the COVID-19
pandemic to be protected by the eviction limitations described above. Before your landlord can seek to
evict you for failing to make a payment that came due between March 1, 2020, and January 31, 2021,
your landlord will be required to give you a 15-day notice that informs you of the amounts owed and
includes a blank declaration form you can use to comply with this requirement.
If your landlord has proof of income on file which indicates that your household makes at least 130
percent of the median income for the county where the rental property is located, as published by the
Department of Housing and Community Development in the Official State Income Limits for 2020, your
landlord may also require you to provide documentation which shows that you have experienced a
decrease in income or increase in expenses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Your landlord must tell
you in the 15-day notice whether your landlord is requiring that documentation. Any form of objectively
verifiable documentation that demonstrates the financial impact you have experienced is sufficient,
including a letter from your employer, an unemployment insurance record, or medical bills, and may be
provided to satisfy the documentation requirement.
It is very important you do not ignore a 15-day notice to pay rent or quit or a notice to perform covenants
or quit from your landlord. If you are served with a 15-day notice and do not provide the declaration
form to your landlord before the 15-day notice expires, you could be evicted. You could also be evicted
beginning February 1, 2021, if you owe rental payments due between September 1, 2020, and January
31, 2021, and you do not pay an amount equal to at least 25 percent of the payments missed for that
time period.
For information about legal resources that may be available to you, visit lawhelpca.org.
For information, resources, and support visit www.LandlordTenant.dre.ca.gov.
