Landlord must apply for tenant rent assistance B4 pay or quit?

[Robert A. Klein]

Hi,

  I'm a landlord in Riverside, Ca. I have a tenant that has become a problem. The last 3 months they have paid late around the 10th - 12th of the month. Still waiting for rent for this month (Dec. 2021) I talked to a lawyer about it. He informs me that due to covid everything has changed in the past two years. I am now required to apply for tenant rental assistance through an organization called United lift (www.unitedlift.org) before I can serve them with a 3 day pay or quit notice. This organization seems to be sponsored by the county of riverside, works with the United Way and a group called Lift To Rise and uses federal funding for tenant rental assistance. Does anyone in the Riverside area know anything about this or have experience with this? The lawyer I talked to seemed to paint a really dismal picture about my prospects of evicting them in a reasonable amount of time.