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Eviction cases in California expected to double amid ongoing pandemic

Tenants activists rally at Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles to protest eviction orders issued against renters in September 2020. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

California courts are bracing for eviction cases to double over the next year as pandemic-related financial woes deepen for thousands of renters across the state.

Landlords are expected to file 240,000 new eviction cases — twice what occurs in a typical year, according to estimates by state court officials. The projection takes into account the looming expiration of state eviction protections, which end in late January.

While Gov. Gavin Newsom hopes to extend the renter safeguards, he’s also asked the Legislature to increase the judicial system’s funding so that courts can prepare for an eventual surge in evictions.

“If cases in fact do not double, and we certainly hope they won’t, these funds will be returned,” Newsom spokesman Jesse Melgar said.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.