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Tag: foothill cities

  • Owe back rent due to wildfires, ICE raids? Find out how to apply to LA County for help

    After only allowing landlords to apply for cash assistance, a second round of Los Angeles County’s emergency rent relief program for survivors of the 2025 wildfires and for households impacted by federal immigration crackdowns begins on Tuesday, Feb. 9.

    This time, tenants themselves can initiate the application, which can prompt awards for back rent and for payments owed utilities, such as electric power and water.

    But there is a catch: Although the tenant can apply, their application must be accompanied by a second document from the landlord. If the tenant meets income eligibility requirements, and indeed owes back rent or utility bills, as long as the landlord agrees, the application can go through, according to rules from the county’s Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA).

    Each applicant can receive up to $15,000. All awards go to the landlords or property owners, who clear the back rents or pay the utilities of the tenant applicant. The window for tenant applications opens Feb. 9 at 9 a.m. and closes Wednesday, March 11 at 4:59 p.m.

    “The County’s Emergency Rent Relief Program has reaffirmed what we already know to be true – Los Angeles County residents are navigating undue hardship and financial challenges due to emergencies like federal immigration enforcement and the 2025 wildfires,” said Los Angeles County Board Chair and First District Supervisor, Hilda L. Solis in a prepared statement.

    For those affected by the Palisades and Eaton fires, the rent relief includes those laid off if their place of employment was destroyed or their work hours were reduced, resulting in lost wages. Even more than a year later, those displaced by the fires still need help paying rent or mortgages and would be eligible for up to six months of rent relief, not to exceed $15,000.

    The Palisades and Eaton fires destroyed 11,000 homes and 2,000 businesses. Some groups report only about 30% are rebuilding. A majority are still paying temporary rental charges and allotments from their insurance is expiring.

    “For families still recovering from the Eaton Fire, housing stability is essential to getting back on their feet,” said Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger in a prepared statement.

    In the first round, which closed Jan. 23, a total of 4,644 applications were received, the county reported. It is not known how many awards were given out since most of these are still being vetted, said Keven Chavez, spokesperson for the DCBA. Small landlords in unincorporated areas whose units sustained damage are eligible for six months of rent relief not to exceed $15,000, as long as the units were returned to the rental market. Landlords may still apply in the next round.

    For those tenants, including both in unincorporated county communities and in cities, who have sustained economic hardships such as a sudden loss of income due to federal immigration raids, are eligible for up to six months of rent relief not to exceed $15,000.

    “The urgent need for housing stability and to keep people housed is the reason behind LA County’s Emergency Rent Relief program,” said Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell in a prepared statement.

    The reopening of the $30 million program so that tenants can apply directly comes at a time when families are losing income due to the arrest of main breadwinners placed in detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents, said Third District Supervisor Lindsey Horvath.

    “My intent was always for tenants to be included because access to relief should not depend on who initiates the application. Allowing tenants to apply directly helps remove barriers and ensures assistance reaches families who need it most,” said Horvath.

    “With the opening of Round 2, by expanding that access to allow tenants to initiate the process, that reduces the barriers, allows more people to get the process started, get them access and to the finish line,” Chavez said.

    Marisa Prietto, a communications specialist and volunteer with The Rent Brigade, a grassroots group keeping track of rising rents in LA County, has found rents had increased in many areas by 300%, as landlords took advantage of the increased demand.

    “The last year we’ve seen extreme price gouging,” she said.

    Prietto said even now, the rent relief program is necessary to help those displaced by the January 2025 fires in Altadena and the Palisades. But she said the county program is not perfect.

    For example, many landlords who did not apply in the first round could more easily evict tenants, then rent out the unit at a much higher rent to a new tenant. Even with tenants’ applications, the landlords could simply look at the economics and not accept the deal and instead find a tenant willing to pay more per month, she said.

    “The main problem with it is the eviction protections aren’t strong enough to incentivize landlords to use the program (which is voluntary),” she said.

    The DCBA is hoping more tenants apply in this round than landlords did in the first round. But the application process is not yet open. The application will be open at the website: lacountyrentrelief.com

    “This program is an important first step that will bring much needed relief to some of the most vulnerable in our community,” said Chris Baca, director of humanitarian & migrant assistance at Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA). “Our hope is for this program can bring relief to as many people who need it, and that it becomes a model of how to respond to the housing crises caused by disasters and other unforeseen emergencies.”

    In the meantime, Chavez encourages all tenants who think they may be eligible to go to the website anyway and put in their preliminary information and get on the program’s notification list. They can become familiar with the questions they will be asked, such as income, living situation and how they’ve become affected by either emergency.

    For those not tech-savvy, they can reach out to DCBA partners who can guide them through the application process. The following partners are available for help: Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, (323) 697-3952, jcoria@cluejustice.org; Klimt Consulting LLC, (424) 265-1700, landlord@klimtllc.com; Chinatown Service Center, (323) 909-7385, socialservices@cscla.org; Comunidades Indigenas en Liderazgo (CIELO), (213) 341-9659, Angeln@mycielo.org or Info@mycielo.org.

    “Rent relief is about stability — keeping people safe in their homes and making sure landlords stay whole,” said Fourth District Supervisor Janice Hahn in a prepared statement. “This is real help, not a loan, and it does not depend on immigration status.”

     

    Steve Scauzillo

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  • Slain sheriff’s deputy embraced life, realized dream of patrolling Rancho Cucamonga

    Sobs. Deep breaths. Tears.

    Mourners exhibiting their depth of feeling struggled at times to pay tribute during the funeral service on Tuesday, Nov. 18, for San Bernardino County sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Nunez, who was slain as he arrived at a home in Rancho Cucamonga on Oct. 27 in an attempt to rescue a woman who authorities say was being forced into a car at gunpoint by her ex-husband.

    Nunez, 28, had been a deputy for six years when a man identified as Angelo Jose Saldivar hid behind a building and fired a single shot when Nunez got out of his patrol car on Hollyhock Drive. Saldivar fled on a motorcycle and was arrested after a deputy used his car to knock over Saldivar’s bike as it sped away on the 210 Freeway in Upland. Saldivar has pleaded not guilty to murder, attempted kidnapping and other charges.

    “There was a victim in distress, and Andrew got to her as soon as possible,” sheriff’s Capt. Mike Smith, who was Nunez’s commander at the Rancho Cucamonga station, said at the Toyota Arena in Ontario. “He ran toward danger to protect a victim he did not know. His life was taken by the senseless act of a coward.”

    Nunez is survived by his wife, 2-year-old daughter and an unborn daughter.

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A San Bernardino County sheriff’s Honor Guard fold the flag a top slain Deputy Andrew Nunez’s casket during funeral services at Toyota Arena in Ontario on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. Nunez was shot to death in the line of duty while responding to a domestic violence call in Rancho Cucamonga on Oct. 27. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

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The stage was adorned with photographs and flowers. An honor guard stood watch beside the casket draped with an American flag.

Nunez’s mother, Yolanda, described her son as having strong convictions, fearless, impulsive, “stubborn at times, yes … ready to embrace life with both hands. He always looked out for me, that I was loved, that I was OK.”

A supporter rubbed Nunez’s arm as she spoke through her tears.

“He loved praying. He loved playing golf …

“I can’t … Nunez said, unable to continue.

The supporter took over Nunez’s eulogy.

“I will forever carry the honor of having loved him and the even bigger honor of having been loved by him,” she said.

Nunez’s wife, Roxana, wore dark glasses as she spoke inside the 11,000-seat arena that hosted law enforcement officers from Southern California and beyond.

“He was an incredible father and loving partner,” she said. “He was ambitious and fearless, always pushing himself. But he had the softest heart when it came to our family.”

She inhaled deeply.

“He was proud to stand beside all of you,” Nunez’s wife said. “He made things lighter, he made things better. And if he were here now, he’d be laughing at us for crying. … I love you, baby.”

Andrew Nunez grew up without a strong father figure in his life, Roxana Nunez said, so as the eldest child in the family, he pushed his four siblings to “never give up and be strong. As he got older, he learned to step back a bit, but he never truly left. He was always there on the sideline, ready to help.”

When it came to sports, Nunez was rarely on the sideline. He played football, basketball and soccer, and he was a member of the football team at Los Osos High in Rancho Cucamonga, Deputy Chief Ernie Perez said. And Nunez was a fan of the Lakers and Dodgers.

“Especially the Dodgers,” Perez said.

Nunez dreamed early on of becoming a sheriff’s deputy and patrolling Rancho Cucamonga, where he attended church at the time of his death. He told anybody who’d listen, including co-workers at a cellular company.

“Andrew’s friend told me he talked too much to customers and he talked himself right out of sales,” Capt. Smith said, adding that Nunez made sure to tell his bosses when he exceeded sales goals.

Nunez graduated from the sheriff’s academy in September 2019 and worked in the jails and in transportation before getting the call to realize his dream by reporting to the Rancho Cucamonga station for patrol duty almost three years ago. Most recently, he was assigned to the theft detail at Victoria Gardens, where he kept his partners entertained with his witticisms and good-natured sarcasm, Smith said.

Nunez was training harder and eating healthier foods as he sought a coveted position on the SWAT team.

“I have no doubt you were going to be a member of the SWAT team,” Smith said.

Sheriff Shannon Dicus remembered Nunez as “a servant, a guardian and a protector.”

“To Andrew, it didn’t matter that they were strangers. What mattered was that it was his duty as a peace officer and most of all, it was his duty to his lord and savior, Jesus Christ. He established a legacy of service that will echo far beyond this moment in the hearts of everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.”

A colleague and friend, Sgt. David Rayenhartz, said he would counsel Nunez on how to improve his work, and he did. Rayenhartz exhorted Nunez to exceed the sergeant’s accomplishments and said Nunez did, as a father, husband and cop.

Rayenhartz paused a few times to compose himself.

“He was simply Andrew … he was like a son,” Rayenhartz said.

Toward the end of the two-hour ceremony, a video showed images of Nunez with family and friends at various stages of his life. It concluded with his eldest daughter pulling a photo of her father, in his deputy’s uniform, off a table. She placed it on the floor and kissed it.

“Daddy!” she exclaimed.

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Law enforcement and guests arrive for the funeral of slain San Bernardino County sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Nunez prior to funeral services at Toyota Arena in Ontario on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. Nunez was shot to death in the line of duty while responding to a domestic violence call in Rancho Cucamonga on Oct. 27. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

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