California landlords are locking out struggling tenants. A ‘tsunami of evictions’ may be next

California landlords are locking out struggling tenants. A ‘tsunami of evictions’ may be next

Christopher Borunda's landlords locked him out. Theresa Ribeiro's landlord left vulgar voicemails threatening to remove her. Denise Briggs's landlord said he was selling her house and she couldn't stay.

Some California tenants have faced increasingly aggressive eviction efforts over the last month, despite emergency protections meant to preserve people's housing during the coronavirus pandemic. And although advocates have urged state officials to strengthen the rules, key renters' protections are set to expire without new state plans in place.

The result, experts say, could be catastrophic.

Amid rising coronavirus infections and a worsening economic crisis, hundreds of thousands of renters are now at risk of becoming homeless in California, potentially exacerbating the state's dire housing crisis. In addition, advocates fear the lack of protections will embolden some landlords to resort to hostile methods to get their renters out, at a time when many Californians have nowhere to go.

With so many families facing huge rent debt, advocates are urging the state to act. The only viable solution, some activists say, is rent relief - a move that elected officials have so far resisted.

"When talking about the scale of eviction and mass displacement, it's pretty unimaginable,“ said Ananya Roy, director of the Institute on