The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday voted to move forward with a plan to raise the threshold for eviction, requiring renters to be at least two months behind their rent before becoming eligible for eviction.
Currently, property owners can begin eviction proceedings with one month of unpaid rent.
Supervisors Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis introduced the proposal, arguing financial pressure has increased for tenants since widespread federal immigrant enforcements began in the region last summer. They said some people are discouraged from going to work while LA businesses have been hurt from dwindling customers and losing workers.
Supporters of the plan said it would give families more time to catch up on rent during a period of fear and financial disruption.
“immigrants have lost 60% of their income,” said Lucy Briggs from the Rent Brigade, a grassroots organization. “People are forgoing medicine, utilities and food in order to pay rent.”
Tenant advocates, including those from the Rent Brigade, said they want the protection to be expanded across LA County while raising the threshold to three months, instead of the currently proposed two months.
Quetzalli Zalidvar said her neighbor, a mother with two children, is one of the people who are afraid to leave home because of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity.
“I hope (property owners) can have some conscience,” Zalidvar said, hoping landlords will show some empathy to immigrant tenants.
However, landlord groups argued that the existing system already makes it harder for property owners to stay afloat as they are also struggling with rising costs.
“What we see is tenants taking advantage, short paying their rent,” Daniel Yukelson from the Apartment Association of Greater LA said. “Owners have to wait until enough past due rent is built up.”
Yukelson said it is impossible for small property owners to keep up, and the proposal could push them out of the rental market entirely.
After the proposal passed in a 4-1 vote, a second vote is needed before taking effect. Supervisor Kathryn Barger voted against the motion.
Barger did not speak on the issue during Tuesday’s meeting, but she has in the past expressed concern for the impacts rising tenant protections have on landlords — particularly smaller “mom-and-pop” building owners — who could be left unable to pay their mortgages due to an inability to collect rent from tenants.
Supervisor Lindsey Horvath introduced a motion during Tuesday’s meeting that the board will consider next week, asking that the eviction threshold be raised instead to three months, and that it be applied countywide. The move would be taken under the auspices of an emergency declaration approved by the board in October in response to immigration enforcement crackdowns.
According to Horvath’s supplemental motion, the current fair market rent in the county is considered $2,085 per month for a one-bedroom unit, and $2,601 for two bedrooms.
City News Service contributed to this report.