Eviction protections for those impacted by the recent Los Angeles County fires were given first approval by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night, Feb. 18, after much debate surrounding the measure.
The supervisors voted 4-0 to approve the motion, with Fifth District Supervisor and Board Chair Kathryn Barger abstaining from the vote.
A resolution incorporating countywide eviction protections will return for a second and final vote on Feb. 25.
Low-income renters who have lost their jobs as a result of the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires will be shielded from evictions after being unable to pay rent, as long as they show evidence of income loss due to the fires.
Under the approved motion authored by Third District Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, tenants who qualify could stay in their apartment, motel, hotel room or house for up to six months without making rent payments.
Horvath said the eviction protections and the possibility of money awarded as rental assistance and for paying back rent to make the landlord whole, is needed right away, until renters can get other resources in hand.
“This is intended to provide some breathing room to help those under stress and trauma,” Horvath said. “Workers just need time to get back on their feet, to look for a new job and access government relief programs.”
Members of the Los Angeles Tenants Union, a nonprofit with members of tenants’ rights groups from Pasadena, Glendale, Chinatown, Lennox, Inglewood and other county and city of L.A. regions, noted the immediate crisis stemming from the loss of 16,000 structures by the fires that created a scramble for those who lost homes to find places to live, has created another crisis.
Vulnerable renters have seen rate hikes and illegal price-gouging from some landlords in an effort to replace occupants with higher-paying tenants displaced from the Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Pasadena and Altadena — the areas hardest hit by the January fires.
As of Feb. 12, the county’s Department of Consumer and Business Affairs has received more than 1,000 price-gouging complaints, mostly connected to housing and rentals. The Board approved a maximum penalty for price-gouging of $50,000 last week.
“Tenants in neighborhoods such as Pico Union and Lincoln Heights worked in the Palisades and now have lost the income needed to stay housed,” the LA Tenants Union reported.
The fires sent thousands of additional households into what is one of the tightest, most expensive rental markets in the nation.
Also, 20,000 businesses and 125,000 employees have been displaced or otherwise impacted by the fires. In addition, the fires left landscapers, day laborers, housecleaners, restaurant workers, retail clerks and child caregivers without work who live throughout L.A. County, the motion reported. This placed even more pressure on existing low-income households within the county, said Tony Carfello, LATU organizer in an interview on Tuesday.
“A giant fire took their jobs away — their employment is gone. These are people trying to keep up with rents in L.A. while working blue collar jobs. They are financially impacted by this,” Carfello said.
Those who opposed the motion included landlords, property managers and business groups who felt the landlords shouldn’t have to carry this burden or that the action would lessen the number of rental units available.
“As a lifelong Angeleno I wanted to do my part for those impacted by the fires and I rented out properties at a discount to those affected as a show of solidarity with my fellow community members. And in return, I feel like I am punished,” wrote Jensen Jen in a written comment to the board.
“This proposal is too broad and created a long-term risk for the housing market,” said Victor Reyes, representing the Valley Industry & Commerce Association (VICA). He suggested the county should instead distribute state funds to help renters.
While workers can apply for unemployment insurance and emergency funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), it can take time to receive these benefits, the county reported.
“But more must be done quickly to protect people from falling into homelessness,” read the motion entitled: “Keeping Wildfire Impacted Workers Housed.”
Qualified tenants would be protected from eviction between Feb. 1, 2025 and July 31 2025. The tenant must have been financially impacted by the wildfires and must have a 2024 household income equal to or less than 150% of the Area Median Income; be enrolled in or have applied to a wildfire relief program and applied for unemployment benefits or other qualifying income assistance programs.
The tenant’s loss of monthly income must be at least 10%. If a tenant’s income was lost due to their workplace being destroyed by the fires, the lost income qualifies as a resulting economic impact. Rental debt incurred as a result is a defense to an unlawful detainer action, the motion states.
After the emergency is over, tenants would be required to repay any rental debt incurred or still owed the landlord during the time of the protection. They would have 12 months to do so.
The motion also asked the county to find at least $10 million in unspent funds that could be used to provide flexible spending that supports impacted tenants and landlords.
“I appreciate that people have lost their income because their business was working in these communities and now they cannot pay their rent,” said Supervisor and Board Chair Kathryn Barger.
Barger suggested any dollars to help pay rents or make landlords whole come from Measure H, which was passed by voters in 2017 for homeless services, or the more recently passed Measure A, a new homeless initiative that will take its place.
Horvath added a provision that asks the county’s chief executive officer to seek philanthropic dollars to help fund payback to landlords and rental assistance.
“There is an overall need for rental assistance,” said Rafael Carbajal, director of the county’s Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA). He intends to pursue a standing rental assistance fund using Measure A dollars in the near future.