The city of Los Angeles currently allows landlords to increase rents above what’s permitted in other Southern California cities with rent control. Earlier this year, many L.A. renters received increases of up to 6%.
Now, L.A. renters and some city council members are pushing to lower those limits, saying the current rules are straining tenants who already stretch their budgets to keep a roof over their heads.
Landlords are fighting back in the wake of a nearly four-year rent freeze imposed by the city. They say further limits would be financially punishing as other costs are soaring, from insurance to maintenance and repairs.
How L.A. stacks up to other cities
Renters and lawmakers rallied outside L.A. City Hall on Friday morning, demanding a change to current rules that let landlords give rent-controlled tenants annual increases of anywhere from 3% to 8%, depending on recent inflation figures. L.A. landlords can also add another 2% to those rent increases if they cover a tenant’s gas and electric bills.
When City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez took the microphone, he said he supports setting the city’s maximum annual rent increase at 3%. Councilmembers Nithya Raman and Eunisses Hernandez also spoke at the rally to call for lower rent hikes.
“Cities like West Hollywood, Pasadena, Santa Monica — even Beverly Hills — have better protections than we do,” said Soto-Martinez, himself a renter. “Hopefully we can line ourselves up with the cities that literally, many of them, border our own city.”
Currently, allowable increases in rent-controlled apartments are capped at 2.5% in West Hollywood, 2.75% in Pasadena, 2.8% in Santa…
Read the full article here
