Nearly 10 months after Angelenos voted for a so-called “mansion tax” to fund affordable housing and homelessness prevention programs, the Los Angeles City Council voted 10-0 on Tuesday, Aug. 29, to approve a plan for spending the first $150 million in Measure ULA funds.
The money will help pay for programs that provide short-term emergency rental assistance, eviction defense, tenant outreach and education, cash assistance for low-income seniors and individuals with disabilities, and tenant harassment protections. It will also help support new affordable housing projects.
During recent Los Angeles City Council meetings and some council committee meetings, renters in the city have implored council members to immediately release the full $150 million in ULA funds that was approved in this year’s budget, citing a pressing need to stave off further homelessness.
Tenant rights advocates have reported an increase in eviction filings since Feb. 1, when the city ended the eviction moratorium that the city adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additionally, tenants who owed back rent incurred during the first 18 months of the pandemic had until Aug. 1 to pay their debt. Others who owe COVID-related unpaid rent incurred between October 2021 and January of this year have until Feb. 1 to pay what they owe.
But many tenants say they’re still struggling and fear another wave of eviction notices.
Maria Briones, a member of Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, an organization that belongs to the United to House LA coalition, said she represents the typical renter who would benefit from ULA-funded programs. She spoke during a rally and press conference outside of City Hall on Tuesday, ahead of the council vote.
“I am standing here today as (an) at-risk tenant – disabled, senior citizen. … I am the embodiment of the average Angeleno tenant,” said Briones. She described living in her rental unit with no electricity for the past three weeks,…
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