What to know for Tuesday’s deadline to pay unpaid rent from the start of the pandemic

The Keep LA Housed Coalition holds a rally last week to urge city officials to support tenants struggling with rent debt. Eviction protections that were in place at the start of the pandemic expired earlier this year, which means that tenants could face evictions if they’re not able to pay their landlords their unpaid rent from the first 19 months of the pandemic by the Aug. 1 repayment deadline. If you have rental debt accumulated from March 1, 2020, through Sept. 30, 2021, you have to pay that unpaid rent to your landlord, or possibly face eviction. However, the Los Angeles City Council and Mayor Karen Bass approved a minimum threshold for evictable rent debt, which means that if you owe less than one month of unpaid rent, you can’t be evicted on the basis of late rent, according to a statement by Bass’ office. The city will also be reaching out to people who receive eviction notices to help them understand what it means, help them file a response if their landlord filed an unlawful detainer and make sure that they are aware of any resources available to them, Councilmember Nithya Raman, chair of the council’s housing and homelessness committee, said at the conference Monday.