Los Angeles City Hall. (Photo: City of Los Angeles)
LA City Council Votes 11-1 To Keep Eviction Moratorium in Place
Landlords plead for relief as more are being financially hurt
By Evan Symon, July 30, 2022 2:30 am
Following the Los Angeles City Council 11-1 vote on Wednesday extending the eviction moratorium yet again despite the pandemic-instituted protection being virtually erased from most other places in state.
Los Angeles has had eviction moratoriums in place since the Spring of 2020. Originally enacted as a measure to help stop the spread of COVID-19 by helping keep people in their apartments and homes, the moratorium has been increasingly decried by landlords and residents alike for placing the burden of safety measures solely on the landlords. Despite COVID-19 case levels tapering off and far less dangerous forms of COVID-19 mutating, the LA City Council has continually approved new extensions in the past two years, with courts agreeing that the moratoriums should be kept in place due to the public health crisis.
Landlords, particularly smaller landlords with only one or two properties, have been hit hard the most, with the moratorium causing not only their finances to be be depleted, but also helping to contribute to the affordable housing crisis.
“A lot of ‘mom and pop’ style landlords had to sell because of the moratorium,” stressed Michael Yuan, a landlord in Los Angeles, to the Globe on Friday. “And guess who they have been going to? More private owners or these equity firms. And since we’re usually cheaper, they jacked up the rents as soon as they bought the places as much as they could and found inventive ways to get rid of tenants legally that we don’t usually have the resources for.”
“So congrats LA City Council. You’re making the situation here worse by ignoring the needs of the smaller landlords still offering competitive rent prices and making rents, especially in gentrifying areas, much more unaffordable. And you’re still making people homeless out of all of this.”
On Wednesday, a social justice group, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), protested outside the City Council meeting, pushing for them to continue the moratorium due to both the continuing dangers of COVID-19 and how a large-scale eviction would make many homeless.
AACE member Elizabeth Hernandez addressed the City Council, urging them to keep the pandemic protections in place.
“A lot of people still haven’t been able to pay the rent and they’re going to end up homeless,” AACE member Elizabeth Hernandez said.
Eviction moratorium extended
However, landlords continued to push for the need to collect rent, as missing rents have added to enormous financial burdens they have had to bear for over two years. Many expressed how tired they are as being characterized as ‘greedy’ or other monikers, as they are simply getting money for housing they own and rent to them and how in any other bill or payment it would not be tolerated.
“You can’t walk into your neighborhood grocery store and say ‘Because food is a necessity, I’m going to walk out without paying,'” noted Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles President Cheryl Turner. “But we are being criticized for asserting our rights to collect our rent.”
Yuan added that “For many of us, collecting rent is our retirement income. This is our 401k. Many landlords are on disability, and for them, running rental units is a job they can manage. By continuing to say that eviction isn’t an option for most cases, you’re eating into people’s livelihoods. You’re hurting the elderly, the disabled, and many others. You have to be a sociopath to not see how this has been hurting us.”
Out of the 12 City Council members who voted on Wednesday, only one, John Lee, voted against keeping the moratorium in place, criticizing it for not even having so much as an end date.
“Set a date, a date certain that they can look forward to and they can plan for in the future,” said Lee on Wednesday. “This eviction moratorium has got to end.”
Another vote on extending the moratorium is due later this year.
How in the world is this legal??????
Most of what these council (and other) freaks do is not legal or constitutional. The commie groups; e.g., Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (whatever, what a joke), who protested outside and pushed for this inside council chambers sure seem to have an inordinate amount of time and funding on their hands. What isn’t said is that (DUH) there will be LESS rental housing because of these knuckleheaded commie pushes and resulting council decisions How on earth does it help renters if rentals become EVEN MORE unavailable and unaffordable as a result? The tenant “advocates” don’t seem to be concerned about that, do they? Phonies. Sure hope a landlord group will organize and sue.
Right out of the Communist Manifesto. Redistribution of wealth. The city council doesn’t care if landlords lose their property.
LA city enabling these tenants. Mom and pop landlords are still required to pay higher bills due to inflation. LA city is also charging higher prices to allow us to rent these units. They are getting their money and charge hefty fines if we miss due dates. We are not allowed to raise rents or collect rents from tenants that are working but claim they are still suffering. There’s plenty of jobs out there! Two years has been more than enough!
This is exactly why we sold all of our rental property in CA and exchanged them for rentals in KS and TN, much more friendly to property owners. Thankfully, we sold the last one last month! The single family residences went to owner occupiers, lessening the number of single family rentals in our area. I’ve heard that we’re not the only ones, thus the dearth of rental homes.
I’m never buying another property in Los Angeles, and also the properties right now that I have vacant I am not renting out.
Have a tenant that has not paid for one year, has a vicious dog that has chased me 4 times and cannot even get a court date to get her out, for Pet Violation. Talking to other landlords that are refusing to rent homes to any tenant that has not paid rent in the last 2 years and claimed Covid. Los Angeles will be the largest homeless state due to these idiot politicians who have no clue on how to run their districts. They have created lazy, worthless people, who blame others for their short fallings.
Congratulations Los Angeles, you have become a communist city. By the way you know that landlords only pay taxes on rent “collected” and the tenants that do not pay rent are not paying taxes, but only sucking the city dry. I have people looking to rent my place and willing to pay rent and work hard, but I have a tenant that is not paying and filling up space. You need to compensate us landlords for delinquent tenants.
This has to stop. The city of Los Angeles should be paying for this relief if they want to continue this nonsense. Not right to make landlords pay for it.
When this ends there will be very few rental properties left in la city. Who would ever be foolish enough to rent out property with this government in place with these policies?
I truly think that’s why the council continues the foolish policy. They know when moratoriums end, there will be hell to pay. In the form of higher rents, evictions, removals from rental market and sold. The ugliness of their own doing will be costly to all renters. Even the good(majority) will pay the price for all the free loaders.
to extend moratorium is stupid idea. Artificially you are created parasites. for example. I have tenants 3 people only. mother ,daughter and grand mother. 3 of them has job. they were able to pay the rent. as soon you make announcement for moratorium they stop to pay. the 1st moratorium period they didn’t pay $36000 and 2 new car appear in my property. they bought new cars you can congratulate them. besides they broght property 5 more people. may be they are collecting rent from them. you took all my rights from me. shame. you are going to socializm. making Soviet Union. IF you ate concerning about this people ,why you are not taking them in your house? IS plenty job. I ofer the job to them they refused. why they have to work ? if left and right you are giving the money. but we have to pay property tax insurance water and electricity and trash. think please and use your brain