As things start to return to normal, the eviction proceedings have begun to follow suit. Tenants behind on rent who aren’t already will begin experiencing pressure from their landlords to either pay what they owe or face eviction and potentially money judgments against them. However, changes in policy can affect landlords and tenants alike. There are several things to consider when deciding what to do, whether you’re the landlord or the tenant in this situation. Here is some pertinent information to help you.

Many local legislatures have been slowly rolling back their moratorium protections. In Los Angeles, the County Board of Supervisors recently voted 3-2 to end the moratorium at the end of this year. This will fully open the doors for landlords to evict tenants for non-payment of rent, and also pursue judgments against them for unpaid amounts. This obviously places tenants in a position where they should be considering what their plan is. (Doing nothing should not be on that list.) No one wants an eviction or judgment on their record, or wants the looming threat of court dates, judgment collections, or having to move in a hurry in the event of an eviction. 

On the other hand, landlords will also be facing a new struggle in all of this. SB 1477 was just passed, which restricts one’s ability to garnish wages unless the individual’s expendable income (formula already determined by law) to the “lesser of 20% of the individual’s disposable earnings for that week or 40% of the amount by which the individual’s disposable earnings for that week exceed 48 times the state minimum hourly wage.” 

By my calculations, it seems like the people who will be disproportionately affected by evictions are likely to be minimally garnished in the event of a judgment. That doesn’t mean that going through garnishment will be preferable for the tenant, however. No person benefits from ongoing legal issues, on and off garnishments, and never knowing what to expect in advance. 

Where does this leave both parties? Relief efforts have failed to help both landlords and tenants throughout this process. Rental relief didn’t reach or cover the debt for many who fell prey to all the problems that came along with the pandemic. However, self-help is a much less daunting way to deal with it than the waiting, stress, time, and effort relative to dealing with your issues in court. For tenants not knowing what to do, coming up with ideas for some sort of payment plan that you know you can keep up with is something that can go a long way in negotiating some sort of deal with your landlord. Also—not fun to address—consider whether staying in the place you owe debt makes financial sense moving forward. Some tenants can find ways to save money by going back with roommates or family to help eliminate the debt. No matter what, the effort in helping propose a solution is likely to go a long way in striking a deal with the landlord. 

For the property owner, the benefit is knowing what will be coming and when, as well as eliminating the need to spend a lot of money enforcing a judgment and effort to renew wage garnishment orders, even if it means compromising a bit on the repayment timeline and total amount repaid. Of course, one can start this process at any time. 

Mediation is also a great tool to help parties get through the process, save a ton of time and money, and know what to expect next without going through the unnecessary hassle.