Tenants in and around LA Evicted at Doubled Rate

The number of households evicted from their apartments in and around Los Angeles have doubled since last year, according to a recent report.

As of halfway point this year, 638 households were evicted from apartments in the L.A. region. During the same period last year, only 294 households were evicted from their homes.

“Landlords have the unconditional right to evict tenants who aren’t protected by rent control,” said CES executive director Larry Gross. “Something has to be done to stop landlords from evicting tenants for the purpose of increasing their rent.”
Gross added: “An average of seven households are evicted on a daily basis in L.A. There has to be a solution for people who’ve lost their homes as their means for survival must be protected.”

The city government is currently considering strengthening the Ellis Act, a California state law that prohibits landlords from evicting tenants. The law was created in 1985 to stop landlords from evicting tenants to raise the rent for higher profit. The Ellis Act initially stipulated that landlords who evict tenants must turn their apartments into a condominium or else run the risk of not being allowed to rent the same unit for the next five years.

The new Ellis Act now requires landlords who rent the affected unit within five years must pay a fine in addition to the ban that prohibits them from renting that unit for another five years.

L.A. City Councilman Gil Cedillo is currently reviewing the prospects of implementing a law that will require all landlords to cite a convincing reason when evicting tenants.

The new law, if implemented, will stipulate that the landlords are required to provide reasonable proof for evicting tenants, including documents to prove that the tenants have repeated made late payments.

According to the city government, 85 percent of the apartments within the city are subject to the law.

By Woosoo Lee