As the number of Los Angeles residents evicted from rent-controlled units continues to climb, city officials are contemplating new ways to protect tenants and hold landlords accountable to laws governing units protected under the citys Rent Stabilization Ordinance.
The City Councils Housing Committee on Wednesday unanimously approved a preliminary ordinance tightening restrictions on how and when landlords can evict tenants under Californias Ellis Act. The controversial law, passed in 1985, allows building owners to mass-evict all the occupants if the units are being removed from the rental market.
Anne Ortega, who heads the Rent Stabilization Division of the citys Housing and Community Investment Department, told the committee that the department received more than 300 Ellis Act applications in 2016, resulting in the removal of around 1,400 rent-controlled units from the market.
The loss of these units has an effect on the cost of housing citywide, and the proposed new rules include a provision requiring that developers replace rent-controlled units with affordable housing in projects built following the demolition of buildings vacated under the Ellis Act.
Under the regulations, landlords would also have to pay for the relocation of all evicted tenants and file annual reports with the city on the status of units withdrawn from the rental market.
