{"id":118285,"date":"2026-01-03T03:52:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T03:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/118285\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T03:52:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T03:52:26","slug":"lacc-swap-meet-sues-city-of-la-over-street-vendor-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/118285\/","title":{"rendered":"LACC Swap Meet sues city of LA over street vendor woes"},"content":{"rendered":"

LACC Swap Meet<\/a> has been running in Los Angeles City College\u2019s parking lot for nearly 30 years, but one of its owners says city officials are trying to destroy the business to support street vendors.<\/p>\n

The owners are suing the city of L.A. for allegedly interfering with business and contractual relations at the swap meet. They claim the problems stem from Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez, who they say blocked sidewalk vending enforcement and other requests for help from the owners.<\/p>\n

If they succeed with the lawsuit, which was filed in L.A. County Superior Court last week, they are asking for more than $30 million in damages.<\/p>\n

Soto-Martinez told LAist he wants a solution for street vendors and the swap meet.<\/p>\n

Keep up with LAist.<\/p>\n

If you’re enjoying this article, you’ll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less. <\/p>\n

L.A. City Attorney\u2019s Office did not immediately respond to LAist\u2019s requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Why the lawsuit is happening<\/p>\n

According to the lawsuit, the swap meet owners claim that Soto-Martinez has a \u201cpersonal vendetta\u201d against the swap meet\u2019s co-owner, Phillip Dane, and is trying to get him removed from managing the swap meet.<\/p>\n

They allege that Soto-Martinez used his influence to allow the vendors to keep working outside the venue even though city law prohibits<\/a> them from doing so near swap meets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vendors were encouraged to do this and were even assisted in doing this, by the City and its officials, including City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez,\u201d the lawsuit reads.<\/p>\n

It also says Dane called the Los Angeles Police Department multiple times to respond to problems with the street vendors, but his requests were blocked. His applications for temporary parking restrictions were denied as well.<\/p>\n

During the COVID-19 pandemic, several vendors left the then-closed swap meet to set up on the sidewalk. As LAist reported<\/a>, many didn\u2019t return to the swap meet after it reopened, choosing to stay outside the college.<\/p>\n

Some claimed Dane harassed them for doing so.<\/p>\n

Sidewalk vending near L.A. City College has grown since then. Dane told LAist vendors are now on Marathon and Monroe streets, as well as Madison and Vermont avenues \u2014 too close to the college, he said.<\/p>\n

Dane has asked the city to make the vendors move, which has upset some residents in the community. Since taking over, he\u2019s faced allegations of being a gentrifier against street vendors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dane disagrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cShow me. How am I anti-street vending? By asking a vendor to please not set up right in front of the swap meet because you\u2019re hurting your friends?\u201d he told LAist.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit claims that street vendors, led by Soto-Martinez, have left trash on the property and caused other problems creating \u201cseveral million dollars\u201d in damages each year.<\/p>\n

The excessive foot traffic and cars drew away business, according to the lawsuit, lowering profits for the swap meet. It also says the owners have paid lower rent as a result, which Dane said has been happening for three years. Their rent is an unfixed amount based on profits.<\/p>\n

The councilmember\u2019s reaction<\/p>\n

Nick Barnes-Batista, a spokesperson for Soto-Martinez, said his office wasn\u2019t aware of the lawsuit until LAist reached out Friday.<\/p>\n

The councilmember didn\u2019t respond to specific claims in the suit but told LAist in a statement that as a son of street vendors, he understands the role they play in culture and the economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s essential to bring together residents, vendors from inside and outside the swap meet, and LACC to build a system that supports safe vending while respecting the needs of the local community and the swap meet itself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

No court dates have yet been scheduled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LACC Swap Meet has been running in Los Angeles City College\u2019s parking lot for nearly 30 years, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118286,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,5810,52,51,62735,47,50,49,62736,7855,62734],"class_list":["post-118285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-la","tag-la-city-council","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-lacc-swap-meet","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-sidewalk-vendor-law","tag-street-vendor","tag-swap-meets-in-la"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}