LA to revisit wildfire eviction protections

The City of Los Angeles may amp up tenant protections after last month’s wildfires swamped the rental market, leading to rent hikes and evictions.

The City Council will consider a proposal today, Feb. 14, to pause evictions for tenants financially impacted by wildfires, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.

The measure has sparked debate among tenants, landlords and city officials, who recently sent an initial proposal back to a City Council committee for reconsideration. The proposed measure would only affect tenants in Los Angeles, which includes Pacific Palisades. The Altadena burn zone is not in the City of Los Angeles.

The historic wildfires that swept across Los Angeles County on Jan. 7 consumed more than 6,800 homes and businesses in L.A.’s Pacific Palisades and more than 9,400 structures in Altadena, leaving tens of thousands of residents homeless.

The scramble to find homes severely impacted the rental market, already reeling from a housing shortage.

Displaced wildfire survivors ran up against the housing squeeze, which also affected tenants in eviction proceedings, who reported heightened harassment, according to The Guardian.

As landlords engaged in predatory tactics, hiking rent by as much as 150 percent, community organizers and working-class tenants urged elected officials to enact a countywide eviction moratorium and rent freeze.

After the fires, landlords in the Los Angeles market illegally gouged renters scrambling to find homes, with overall rents jumping 20 percent across Los Angeles County, according to the Washington Post, citing figures from RentCast.

An executive order signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom after the fires began made it illegal to jack up the cost of hotels, housing, gas and other goods by more than 10 percent.

The California attorney general’s office has issued more than 500 warning letters to hotels and landlords accused of price gouging violations. Two real estate agents were charged for illegal price increases.

— Dana Bartholomew