LA City Council approves tenant protections for renters behind on payment

Tenant protections, specifically targeting late rent payments and evictions, were approved by the Los Angeles City Council Friday.

The council adopted an ordinance that gives renters who are behind on rent payments a one-month grace period before landlords can start the eviction process. 

This comes on the heels of the COVID-19 state of emergency declaration's end, which had protected renters who endured financial hardships because of the pandemic. 

The newly adopted ordinance allows tenants behind on rent one month to stay in their apartments, unless they owe more than one month's worth of fair market rent.

The draft ordinance included an urgency clause, but because it only received nine votes on Friday -- three short of the 12 votes required to activate the clause -- it will take effect in 31 days. Councilwoman Traci Park cast the lone dissenting vote. Two council members, Paul Krekorian and Curren Price, recused themselves because they are landlords. Council members Bob Blumenfield and John Lee were absent.

The council also previously adopted an ordinance requiring universal just cause reasons for evictions, and voted for an ordinance on Tuesday for relocation assistance if a tenant cannot afford rent increases of a certain amount. The relocation assistance ordinance will return to the council next week for a final vote.

The volume of eviction filings is starting to resemble pre-pandemic levels, according to Kyle Nelson, a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA and a member of the LA Renters' Right to Counsel Coalition.

Nelson, who has compiled data on evictions in Los Angeles County during the pandemic through court filings, said the number of filings could increase to levels not seen since the Great Recession -- which contributed to more than 72,000 eviction filings in 2008. According to the National Equity Atlas, there are 226,000 households in Los Angeles County behind on rent.