Supervisor Mitchell’s Statement on LA County’s Emergency Rent Relief Program

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell provided the following statement regarding her vote in support of establishing an emergency rent relief program for immigrant communities and preserving rent relief support for residents impacted by wildfires:  

I appreciate that the authors of the rent relief motion accepted amendments to avoid splitting the $10M commitment the Board made to our residents displaced by wildfires by keeping whole the amounts for wildfire survivors and immigrant communities. As well as adjusting the max grant caps for up to 6 months or $15,000 per household – since we heard from residents that $5,000 per household is not enough to fulfill the intent of housing stability.  

We have a responsibility and the capacity to hold multiple vulnerable communities at once. The attacks on our immigrant communities are devastating countless lives and livelihoods and require an urgent response that accounts for the lessons learned from previous rent relief programs. We know that the average amount needed per household to make up for back rent is between $17K to $27K.  

For any rent relief program to be successful it must be timely, targeted, and accessible. I will continue to urge the Dept of Consumer and Business Affairs to quickly get funding to the people who need it most, it will be 90 days for DCBA can get this program started. I will also continue to work with my colleagues on the Board to ensure we are applying the insights captured after this program once it launches to see where there is room to strengthen and expand access to these crucially needed funds.