LA approves stronger law against tenant harassment — with each violation costing $2,000

By JOSE HERRERA

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved a package of changes to its law against tenant harassment, strengthening protections for renters and preventing bad-faith evictions.

The city adopted its Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance in 2021, banning landlords from harassing tenants and making such violations a criminal offense. The policy has had limited outcomes in the last three years, however, as tenants continue to report rampant harassment, and issues related to enforcement emerged.

On Wednesday, the City Council voted 12-0 to amend the ordinance, expanding the definition of tenant harassment and establishing a minimum civil penalty of $2,000 per violation.

Additionally, the updated ordinance is intended to incentivize private attorneys to take on harassment cases and also aims to deter tenant harassment, inform tenants of their rights and clarify landlords’ responsibilities.

Councilmen Paul Krekorian and Curren Price recused themselves as they are landlords, and Councilman Kevin de León was absent during the vote.

The ordinance will be forwarded to Mayor Karen Bass for her signature. If approved by the mayor, it is expected to take effect within 31 days.

“What we have before us is an update to legislation that we passed a couple of years ago but wasn’t working as we had hoped, and after months of thoughtful and detailed feedback from this body, from all of the caseworkers that deal with tenant cases throughout our district, from partner organizations, from tenants, from lawyers and from community groups and from landlords, we have crafted changes to this ordinance that we hope will make it better,” said Councilwoman Nithya Raman, who chairs the Housing and Homelessness Committee.

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Yet, she acknowledged that the city’s laws related to renters rights will “not be successful” if they can’t be effectively implemented.

David Kaishchyan, government affairs coordinator for the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, previously warned that the ordinance will cause “serious damage to the vast majority of positive relationships between rental housing providers and their renters.”

He argued that minimum damage awards for violations would hinder amicable resolutions in cases of minor rent delays, tenant disagreements or scheduling repairs.

“At a minimum, we urge the City Council to construct a tiered system of damages to properly recognize that small owners with 20 or fewer units cannot stay in business providing naturally occurring affordable housing when faced with such astronomical damage awards,” Kaishchyan said.

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Fred Sutton, senior vice president of local public affairs for the California Apartment Association, also noted that the original TAHO ordinance underwent a year of stakeholder feedback and significant debate. He argued that the new version had none of that input.

“The whole point of these provisions is to increase litigation,” Sutton said. “We are seeking a balanced ordinance that protects both housing providers and residents.”

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“Responsible housing providers should not face a cottage industry of lawsuits,” he added.

Kaishchyan criticized the TAHO ordinance for being “blatantly one-sided.” He argued that there are no protections in place for landlords or housing providers, who are sometimes targeted by tenant activists at their homes.

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