The City of West Hollywood is making every effort to respond to community needs during the coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency.

“The coronavirus emergency is an unprecedented health crisis. It’s also an economic crisis for so many of us and our friends and neighbors,” said West Hollywood Mayor John D’Amico. “As we do our part to flatten the curve, our City has put in place policies that can provide immediate relief for renters and businesses that are experiencing hardship.”

On Monday, March 16, 2020, the City Council of the City of West Hollywood proclaimed the existence of a local emergency in response to the coronavirus, which enhances the City of West Hollywood’s ability to access emergency resources at the state and federal level. The City Council also approved two related Urgency Items: 1) a temporary moratorium on evictions for nonpayment of rent resulting from financial impact due to the current state of emergency; and 2) emergency supportive services in response to the pandemic.

On Monday, April 6, 2020, the City Council of the City of West Hollywood approved additional actions to assist the City government in responding to the essential needs of community members. Video and details from this livestreamed Council meeting can be found at www.weho.org/wehotv. These actions include:

• Additional emergency funding related to rental assistance; food and nutrition services; transportation services; and business relief measures, as well as:
• The adoption of additional protections for commercial tenants to ensure they cannot be evicted for nonpayment due to financial impacts related to COVID-19 during the approved moratorium: tenants must notify landlords within 30 days and provide documentation to support their claim of hardship within 90 days; landlords cannot charge late fees or interest for the deferred rent; commercial tenants will have a 6-month rent repayment period, which commences upon expiration of the local emergency; and
• The adoption of expanded residential tenant protections including 1) a freeze on rent increases for units subject to the City’s full Rent Stabilization Ordinance during the moratorium and for 60 days following the end of the local emergency period; 2) extension of the eviction moratorium to May 31; 3) tenants who defer rental payments during the moratorium may offer an explanation of the financial impacts related to COVID-19 in lieu of supporting documentation; 4) in addition to nonpayment of rent, the City Council also added protections to tenants from eviction during the moratorium for having unauthorized occupants; 5) the repayment period for the rent deferred during the moratorium is expanded to a 12-month rent repayment period, which commences upon expiration of the local emergency; 6) landlord may not use the eviction process to recover the deferred rent during the repayment period; 7) landlords may not charge interest on the deferred rent or late fees.

The City of West Hollywood has declared a local emergency in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and is advising community members to adhere to Los Angeles County Safer at Home and California State Stay at Home orders. The City urges everyone to stay in place, maintain your space, and cover your face. Leave home only for essential needs; always use social distancing of at least six feet; and follow guidelines to use cloth face coverings such as bandanas or scarves so that medical masks, which are in short supply, are prioritized for health professionals.

West Hollywood City Hall is currently closed to the public and has suspended all in-person transactions. All public City buildings, playgrounds, and facilities are closed. City Hall will remain accessible for business and essential services with transactions to be conducted by phone (323) 848-6400 and via the City’s website at www.weho.org.

The City of West Hollywood coronavirus updates are available at www.weho.org/coronavirus and the City encourages community members to follow @wehocity on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and turn on notifications for up-to-date information regarding details in the City of West Hollywood.

To view essential-business City meetings, tune in to WeHoTV at:

• www.weho.org/wehotv
• www.youtube.com/wehotv
• Spectrum Channel 10 (in West Hollywood)
• AT&T U-verse Channel 99 (in Southern California)
• SmartTV Apps: AndroidTV; AppleTV; FireTV; and Roku

For notifications by email, subscribe to the City’s E-Notifications at www.weho.org/email. Visit the City’s event and meetings calendar at www.weho.org/calendar and news archive at www.weho.org/news. To receive urgent updates to your phone by text and to your email, text your ZIP code to 888-777.

For updates and information about the current numbers of COVID-19 cases in the United States and in Los Angeles County, the spread of the virus, severity, treatments, precautions, and other important public health information in multiple languages, please visit websites for:

• Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

For reporters and members of the media seeking additional information about COVID-19 in Los Angeles County, please contact the LA County Department of Public Health Chief Communications Officer, Carl A. Kemp, at (213) 240-8144 or media@ph.lacounty.gov.

For reporters and members of the media seeking additional information about the City of West Hollywood, please contact the City of West Hollywood’s Public Information Officer, Sheri A. Lunn, at (323) 848-6391 or slunn@weho.org.