Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, local eviction limits have allowed renters in L.A. County to keep unauthorized pets at home, regardless of whether they’re allowed under a lease. But despite the ongoing legal protections, some landlords are now telling tenants to get rid of their pets — or give up their homes.
The county’s rules around pets not permitted by leases were set to expire on Feb. 1. But last week, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted to extend them for two more months.
LISTEN: During COVID Renters Took In More Pets, Now Some Landlords Say It’s Time To Give Them Up Or Move Out
Dianne Prado, executive director of an organization that offers legal assistance to renters with pets called HEART LA, said even with the extension, “there’s been a huge rise in calls about threats of landlords trying to evict tenants with pets, and actual notices that have gone out.”
Prado said for now, the local protections are helping tenants fight to keep their pets and stay housed. But she said every extension of the rules is just kicking the can down the road. Whenever the protections go away, scores of L.A. pet owners will be vulnerable to eviction.
“When there is that rise of evictions, not only does that mean that a tenant could potentially be evicted,” Prado said, “a pet is going to be thrown into a shelter that’s already overcrowded.”
Landlord groups have long called for L.A. officials to repeal all COVID-related protections, which have allowed low-income tenants hurt by the pandemic to defer rent payments for close to three years. They argue that COVID-19…
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