With the end of significant COVID-era tenant protections this week, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and some City Council members are hoping to stave off evictions that could worsen L.A.’s crippling homelessness crisis by urging Angelenos to stay informed about their rights as tenants and the resources available to them.
Thursday, Feb. 1, is the deadline for Angelenos who owe rent debts accrued between October 2021 and January 2023 to pay those debts — or face possible eviction.
It’s also the day when tenants in rent-controlled housing units could see their rents go up by up to 4% if they pay their own utilities, or by up to 6% if gas and electricity are covered as part of their rent.
Tenants in units covered under the city’s rent-stabilized ordinance benefited in recent years from a freeze on rent hikes that went into effect after the coronavirus pandemic hit. But that freeze will sunset after Wednesday.
With these protections ending, Bass and other city officials worry that more renters will be evicted at a time when L.A. is already under stress from its homelessness crisis. On Tuesday, the mayor’s office, as well as the office of City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, issued announcements that encouraged tenants to tap available resources that could include financial or legal assistance.
“In order to confront this crisis, we must do all that we can to prevent people from falling into homelessness in the first place,” Bass said. “Together with locked arms, we will continue our work to provide resources for the people of Los Angeles.”
The mayor’s office on Tuesday reminded tenants that they cannot be evicted without “just cause,” or a legal reason justifying the eviction.
Her office also encouraged tenants who get an eviction notice or who are being harassed by their landlord to:
- File your answer to the eviction notice within five days. Here is a free online toolkit at tenantpowertoolkit.org, that can help.
- Reach out to the L.A….
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