Los Angeles will soon give tenants the option to skip out on paying two months of rent until their landlords can begin eviction proceedings.
The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 Tuesday to grant the new rules, which take effect April 16. The rules apply to rent based on fair market values, $2,085 for a one-bedroom and $2,601 for a two-bedroom unit.
Rental apartments in Koreatown in Los Angeles on Aug. 21, 2014. Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesCounty Supervisor Kathyrn Barger cast the only dissenting vote, arguing the change “disenfranchises” property owners.
“My ‘no’ vote reflects my belief that local governments should not balance renters’ economic hardships on the backs of landlords…It’s not fair to them, especially as they grapple with their own economic woes,” she said, according to Fox 11.
The change, an amendment to the 2022 Rent Stabilization and Tenant Protections Ordinance, was made to alleviate recent financial strains for Angelenos, its co-sponsors, Supervisors Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis, said.
“This is a modest but necessary increase,” Hahn said in a statement. “With this additional month, I hope we can give renters some breathing room while not putting the entire burden on landlords who also depend on rental income to pay their own bills.”
Solis attributed the necessity for an increase to recent immigration enforcement actions.
A white apartment building with a red “For Rent” sign in a window. Getty Images“In the face of inhumane federal actions and ongoing threats to immigrant families, the County has taken concrete steps to protect renters,” Solis said in a statement.
“These are not symbolic gestures, but real action that meets the needs of those impacted. Raising the threshold to two months provides important protection against eviction while recognizing that many renters will still have to pay back unpaid rent to their landlords,” she added.
It’s unclear what the effect on landlords will be but housing agencies are expected to monitor the impact on homelessness rates in unincorporated areas, according to Fox 11.
Los Angeles is known for being especially tenant-friendly, and landlords have complained about the difficulty associated with evicting tenants before. The new changes could add to the debate.
