Los Angeles plans to spend nearly $10 million on a new program to help tenants threatened with eviction defend themselves in court, along with an additional $50 million to help poor residents amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The City Council votedTuesday to create an “emergency eviction defense” program in the face of warnings that renters could be at risk of losing their homes as state courts go back to processing eviction cases.

Although California lawmakers just passed new protections for tenants, L.A. officials said they were still untangling how those state rules affect local eviction restrictions passed months earlier by the city.

City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell said his staff and city attorneys were still examining the implications of the state law, but said it “does not look encouraging for renters in Los Angeles, as several of the protections we granted are now eliminated.”

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