Rent relief bill that cleared California Senate could give tenants until 2034 to pay rent

California tenants behind on rent could soon get 14 years of emergency relief under a controversial bill approved on Friday by the state Senate that Democrats say would soften the financial blow to the state’s most vulnerable renters.

Senate Bill 1410 would let the state take responsibility the unpaid rent from tenants who’ve struggled to make the payments during the pandemic. The tenants would then have 10 years, beginning in 2024, to pay California back. Landlords would then receive a 10-year tax credit for the same amount as the unpaid rent, and have the option to sell the credits for cash.

The bill would also offer incentives for a landlord to cut a deal with a resident under a “tenant-owner” agreement before evicting the renter.

SB 1410 is part of Senate Democratic leadership’s plan to mitigate the coronavirus’ effect on struggling Californians amid an unprecedented public health crisis that’s plunged California into a $54 billion budget deficit.

Because the pandemic has left millions of Californians out-of-work, proponents have argued, the bill would help keep renters off the streets and help landlords avoid losing their properties to foreclosure.

“When we recess in August we’re not going to be through all of this and we need a solution to help stabilize the rental market, to help tenants and to help landlords at the same time,” said State Sen. Ann Caballero, D-Salinas, during the Floor debate.

State Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, said on Friday that renters would still be responsible for their unpaid rent.

“I want to be clear: This is not an excuse for tenants not to pay their rent,” he said. “We hope that it’s an incentive for the tenant to pay their rent.”

Early financial analyses estimate SB 1410 would cost the state “hundreds of millions of dollars per year” between 2024 and 2033.

During a floor debate Friday, lawmakers raised concerns that SB 1410 violated the U.S. Constitution’s contracts clause, which imposes limits on state power. Others said they were concerned with how long tenants would have to pay back their rent.

“It goes too far, it does too much, and it’s not figured out enough,” said Sen. Brian Jones, R-Santee, on Friday. “Too many loose ends.”

Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, a progressive Democrat from Santa Barbara, said a deadline in the 2030s was “way, way, way too much time.” Still, she added, she supported the measure.

The bill now heads to the Assembly after an initial 27-8 vote.

This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 12:27 PM.