The L.A. City Council voted 10-2 on a proposal limiting rent increases for properties subject to the city’s rent stabilization ordinance capped at 4%. The city’s COVID freeze on rent increases expires at the end of January. The four percent cap on rent increases is a compromise plan thwarting the efforts of a few groups who urged the Council to extend the freeze on rent increases.
Under the proposal, landlords who pay tenants utilities (gas and electric) can raise rents by 6%. The Council instructed the Housing Department to develop programs for tenants and landlords to maintain and preserve rent-controlled units and establish a policy that would distinguish mom-and-pop landlords from corporate landlords, ensuring assistance for those smaller landlords.
Housing advocates cried foul as many tenants are already facing the burden of paying their current rent, and they fear a 4% increase will place vulnerable tenants on the streets or living in their cars, exacerbating the existing housing crisis.
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Los Angeles Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson, representing District 8, understands the complexity of the rising costs of rentals in Los Angeles County, saying:
“There’s no good answer here. Any city where we’ve frozen rent for four years, and the cost of living has still gone up to the point where we’re close to New York, the idea of raising anybody’s rent is a terrible idea.”
However, Harris-Dawson understands the other side, saying, “Housing providers have to be able to pay for trash, utilities, and upkeep, and we are not allowing you to raise money to do those things.”
Councilmembers Traci Park and John Lee voted against the measure. Councilmember Curren Price, Katy Yaroslavsky, and President Paul Krekorian recused themselves because they own rental properties.
Adopted in 1979, the city’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance applies to rental housing built before 1978. According to county officials, this proposal limits rent increases for approximately 624,00 units in 118,000 properties that fall under the Rent Stabilization Ordinance.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors took a similar action, voting 4 to 1, allowing a cap on all rent-controlled apartments in unincorporated LA County for units built before 1995, including mobile homes. Last year, the board imposed a 3% cap on rent increases set to expire at the end of the year. The board voted to extend the cap until June 30, 2024 but agreed to increase the allowable rent increase to 4%.
For questions concerning rental increases in incorporated and unincorporated LA County, contact Los Angeles Consumer and Business Affairs at dcba.lacounty.gov or the Coalition for Economic Survival at cesinaction.org.
