Los Angeles city officials are seeking to protect some tenants from eviction in the wake of the fires that have ravaged the region and destroyed thousands of homes.
In a 15 to 0 vote Tuesday, Los Angeles City Council members directed the City Attorney to draft an ordinance that for a year would prevent evictions for having extra occupants or unauthorized pets that were “necessitated” by the fires.
Councilmember Traci Park, whose district includes the badly hit Pacific Palisades, proposed the new rules in a motion that noted “some impacted people and their pets are currently staying with friends and family in rental properties that may not allow pets or additional persons under current leases.”
Once the city attorney drafts the ordinance, it will come back to council for final approval.
Under the rules, tenants would need to notify their landlord within 30 days after the ordinance takes effect about any unauthorized pet or persons staying with them because of the Palisades, Eaton or other January 2025 fire.
Some officials want to go farther, citing in part reports that some landlords are raising rent beyond what temporary price gouging protections allow.
Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez and Hugo Soto-Martinez submitted a motion Tuesday that seeks to both ban evictions for nonpayment of rent if tenants face economic or medical hardship from the fires and implement a “rent increase pause for all rental residential units trough Jan. 31, 2026.”
Both actions are similar to rules put in place during the pandemic and drew concerns from landlords groups.
Fred Sutton, a senior vice president with the California Apartment Assn., told council members property owners stand ready to help, but called a rent freeze and non-payment eviction protections irresponsible policy that “goes well beyond those in immediate need and dire straights.”
The proposals from Hernandez and Soto-Martinez were not approved Tuesday, but rather referred to committee.
Faizah Malik, an attorney with pro-bono law firm Public Counsel, expressed disappointment the council didn’t sign off on a rent freeze and further eviction protections, but hoped the city would soon.
She said low-income households who worked in burn-areas are now out of work, while comparatively well-off homeowners have lost their houses and are looking for rental housing.
“These fires have gravely exacerbated our existing countywide affordable housing and homelessness crisis,” Malik told council members
