LA City Council approves new tenant protections

The Los Angeles City Council voted for new renter protections Friday as the COVID-19 local state of emergency tenant protections are set to expire February 1.

The tenant policy changes include expanding rules that require landlords to provide just cause evictions, relocation payments to tenants hit by annual rent hikes above 10 percent, and a one-month grace period for rent before evictions.

Tenant groups have voiced their fears of a wave of evictions once the long-standing protections expire.

At Friday's meeting, critics of the renter protections said they are not fair to landlords and said that many small and medium property owners will probably end up selling to corporations – which will in turn drive up rents.

"For housing providers, they're the ones that need to figure out how to deal with individuals who decide to not pay rent in some capacities," said Fred Sutton, California Apartment Association.

From here the City Attorney's Office will draft the new tenant protection ordinance – which is expected to go into effect by the end of the month.

Under the city's moratorium, tenants still have until Feb. 1, 2024, to repay rent accumulated from Oct. 1, 2021 to Feb. 1, 2023.