As statewide tenant protections extend through June, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Thursday he has warned nearly 100 law firms against filing false claims in eviction cases.
The attorney general’s housing strike force sent letters to 91 law firms in recent days, alerting attorneys not to file evictions against tenants who have applied for state emergency rental assistance. The state bans evictions for nonpayment if a tenant has applied to the state’s relief program, Housing is Key.
More than 100,000 California tenants have pending relief applications. The program was set to close at midnight March 31.
“We have reason to believe that some landlords and their attorneys may be filing false declarations to push hardworking Californians out of their homes,” Bonta said. “This is unacceptable, and more importantly, absolutely illegal. California families were already struggling with the high cost of housing before the pandemic, and these past two years have only made things worse.”
Attorneys for landlords said the attacks were unfair, and blamed the state for delays in reporting details about aid applications and complex new rules to file eviction papers. “This is so clearly politically motivated,” said Todd Rothbard, a landlord attorney in Santa Clara who received a letter on March 25.
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