Get financial help to pay for housing from the Los Angeles Emergency Assistance to Prevent Eviction program.
Very low income families that are facing eviction due to unpaid rent or a utility bill may qualify for help from the Emergency Assistance to Prevent Eviction (EAPE) program. It was developed specifically for Los Angeles’ rental market, which has some of the highest costs and most competitive vacancy rates in the country. Learn more below on the Los Angeles EAPE program and how it can help residents pay past due rent or other housing costs.
What is the Emergency Assistance to Prevent Eviction program?
This is for Los Angeles County families that are also enrolled in California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids, or CalWORKs. The Emergency Assistance to Prevent Eviction program is one of the city’s most targeted and locally structured housing-stability resources. Los Angeles uses EAPE as part of a multi-layered approach that includes the city’s Just Cause Eviction protections, relocation-assistance rules, rental-registry requirements, and local outreach centers operated through nonprofits.
In most other California cities, eviction-prevention funds operate only as one-time rent-relief grants. In Los Angeles, the EAPE assistance program is directly tied to case management, legal referrals, and tenant-education requirements, which means households do not only get short-term financial help but also structured support and follow-up aimed at stabilizing them for the long term.
Financial help provided by EAPE to qualified renters
The intent of the EAPE Program is to assist CalWORKs residents that are behind on their rent, utility, or water bills. The cause of the crisis needs to be something that was out of their control. This situation must be causing a potential eviction or homelessness to take place. In many cases, the individuals will need to have a formal pay or quit or disconnection notice from their landlord or energy company. The main goal of Emergency Assistance to Prevent Eviction is to keep people and families housed.
Los Angeles uses EAPE only when a CalWORKs household faces verified eviction, which means a formal three-day notice to pay or quit, an unlawful detainer filing, or written notice proving imminent displacement. Documentation is processed by DPSS rather than the city’s housing department, so verification follows CalWORKs rules posted at https://dpss.lacounty.gov/en/cash/calworks.html. This differs from other California counties where nonprofits or community-action agencies screen tenants with more flexible criteria. Los Angeles relies on a uniform countywide standard to determine whether the family would become homeless without immediate intervention.
The amount of back rent covered is another area where Los Angeles stands out. Under CalWORKs emergency rules, the county can pay up to two months of back rent to stop an eviction when the household can show that it can stay current afterward. However the LA version tries to provide even more rent payment help.
- If the current month’s rent is also unpaid, Los Angeles (based on funding levels) may add that month as part of the emergency package, giving a maximum of up to three months of total rental assistance. These caps come directly from state CalWORKs homelessness-prevention regulations, but Los Angeles uses the upper range more frequently because of higher local rents and greater eviction pressure and the program can also be combined with other emergency rental assistance programs in Los Angeles.
Additional homeless prevention from Emergency Assistance to Prevent Eviction
Legal support is another unique element. The city’s Stay Housed L.A. program partners with legal-aid organizations to provide advice or representation to renters who qualify for Emergency Assistance to Prevent Eviction. Information about these legal resources is posted at here at free Legal Service in Los Angeles to stop an evictions.
- Renters who get emergency financial aid are almost always referred for legal screenings to identify improper notices, missing landlord documentation, or possible retaliation claims. Few California cities embed legal intake directly into an eviction-prevention program as systematically as Los Angeles does.
Los Angeles also ties EAPE funding to mediation and communication requirements. Households may need to participate in mediation with landlords before assistance is finalized. This is intended to prevent future disputes and to encourage informal repayment agreements. Los Angeles integrates mediation into the assistance process itself. It is a way of stabilizing tenancies where past-due balances may accumulate again after the rent aid is paid.
Contact information
Call (866) 613-3777 for the customer service team. The application process in Los Angeles can require several steps. Tenants typically submit documentation online or through a community partner, including income verification, ID, lease records, and proof of impending eviction. Case managers review the documents, verify landlord information, confirm that the unit is within city boundaries, and examine whether the tenant used other relief programs.
Assistance payments are usually issued directly to landlords (meaning money is given directly to the property owner) after approval, and the tenant receives written confirmation. Los Angeles also requires tenants to remain in communication after assistance is issued, which allows the city to intervene again if additional notices arise. Households with minor children, seniors, people with disabilities, or survivors of violence are often placed in higher priority tier.
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