The California Rental Assistance Program opened on March 15, 2021 and is open to:

Any L.A. County tenant not living in the City of Long Beach or Santa Clarita. (If you live in these cities, see information below.)
Households with income below 80% of Los Angeles County's median income. Priority will be given to those with income of 50% or below the county's median.
All individuals no matter your citizenship or immigration status.

Eligibility is based on a household's monthly income at time of application or income for the 2020 calendar year, and applications will be prioritized based on households with the highest need.

If you can't pay your rent, we strongly encourage you to apply for government rental assistance through Housing is Key or your local program if you live in the City of Long Beach. Applying for rental assistance could help prevent you from getting evicted, having an eviction on your tenant and credit reports, and owing back rent and other money to your landlord.

If you have applied for rental assistance the court may wait until the application is processed before it lets the eviction case move forward, giving you more time. Under the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020, a pending government rental assistance application may serve as an affirmative defense to an eviction lawsuit filed for nonpayment of rent between March 2020 through September 30, 2021- until either that application is accepted or denied.

How will the State Rental Assistance program work?

Tenants or landlords may apply to the program, but landlords must opt-in to the program if tenants apply. When a tenant applies, the landlord will be contacted to verify they want to participate. For landlords that choose to participate, they will be provided direct payments of 100% of up to a year of unpaid, past due rent and up to 3 months of future rent.

If a landlord chooses not to participate, qualified tenants may still apply to the program for a 25% payment of all the rent that you owe. This will give tenants protection from eviction through September 2021 under AB 832. Learn more about AB 832 HousingisKey.com.

For more detailed information about the program or for help filling out the rental assistance application, visit HousingisKey.com or call 833-422-4255.

Resources
How to Apply

Program Overview

CA COVID-19 Rent Relief Renter Letter to Landlord

Frequently Asked Questions

You can also watch the video below, which walks through the application process.

0:00 Video Begins
0:30 Rental assistance application requirements
2:50 How to access the portal and apply*
3:30 Program breakdown by geography
4:15 Other tenant protections
4:54 How to access the application on the Housing is Key website
5:40 Filling out the Application - Part A - Tenant Eligibility Checklist
7:50 Part B - Applicant information
9:10 Part C - Household Members
10:00 Part D - Income Verification
13:12 Part E - COVID-19 Impact
14:17 Part F - Rental Assistance Request
16:27 Part G - Water and Gas Utility Assistance
17:23 Part H - Trash and Sewer Assistance
17:54 Part I - Electric and other Utility Assistance
18:54 Part J - Prior Assistance Received
20:03 Part K - Other Required Paperwork
21:07 Frequently Asked Questions
24:52 Navigating the Website
25:30 Questions and Answers

What if I live in the City of Long Beach or Santa Clarita?

If you live in the city of Long Beach or Santa Clarita you must apply to their rental assistance program, not the state’s.

Information about Long Beach’s program can be found here.

Information about Santa Clarita’s program can be found here.