Beverly Hills Approves $700K Rent Relief Program
BEVERLY HILLS, CA — The Beverly Hills City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a $715,000 rent subsidy program for tenants affected by COVID-19.
The program will offer up to $1,000 a month for up to three months to tenants living on multi-family properties that fall under the Rent Stabilization Ordinance, which prioritizes seniors and families with children enrolled in the Beverly Hills Unified School District. The money will go towards making up the remaining balance on unpaid rent, and will be paid directly to the landlord on the condition that the family has a year to make up unpaid rent, and cannot be evicted for a year.
The program's income threshold is set at 80 percent of the Area Median Income, which the Department of Housing and Urban Development calculated to be $90,100 for a family of four in Los Angeles, though councilmembers remained open to lowering the threshold to 50 percent depending on the level of interest in the program. According to a staff report, the city has currently received 1,047 applications, and approved 801. The city has already identified $442,935 in funds, and anticipates that $272,000 will be made available in the next few months.
The program will be administered by Jewish Family Services, which is charging the city $98,527 to administer the program. On Tuesday councilmembers asked that this fee be renegotiated.
Nearby cities like Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and Los Angeles have enacted similar programs.
This article originally appeared on the Beverly Hills Patch
