Public officials in Los Angeles are reconsidering a criticized measure that would have frozen apartment rents and prevented some evictions for the next year as way to protect residents affected by the recent wildfires.
The Los Angeles City Council voted to send the proposed package of tenant protections back to the housing and homelessness committee for further study. If passed, the ordinance would have prevented certain types of evictions and implemented a rent-hike moratorium for all rental units in the city through Jan. 31, 2026.
"When we as a city tell developers that at any moment the city council can commandeer your investment, who is going to want to build in this city? Who is going to want to do business here?" said District 12 Councilmember John Lee. Lee voted to send the proposal back to committee.
Fires have torched some 60 square miles and destroyed more than 12,000 structures across Los Angeles County in the past three weeks, leaving 88,000 people evacuated from their homes. Meanwhile, reports have surfaced of price gouging at single-family homes and officials have taken notice, with the latest ordinance part of local efforts to stop such illegal price hikes. State officials have extended temporary price gouging restrictions through March 8.
The measure goes back to the five-member housing and homelessness committee for further analysis and amendments. Proponents of the measure, such as councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez of District 13, indicated they're willing to add more amendments to address critics' concerns.
The proposal comes as Los Angeles is under pressure from California to build 450,000 new housing units by 2029, half of them to be earmarked as affordable — or discounted rents reserved for individuals earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income — as part of statewide efforts to boost inventory and ease cost concerns.
Proponents, critics
Proponents of the measure said it could provide renters forced from their homes by the fires with some stability in the coming year, with rent freezes and eviction protections helping to keep them from moving out of Los Angeles.
"The price gouging has been out of control," said Adam Smith, an organizer at Los Angeles Community Action Network and one of more than 90 speakers at the Wednesday meeting. "It’s compounding a crisis that’s gone on for decades. All tenants are recovering from these wildfires, houseless and housed."
Some opponents argued it was a blanket measure that could have negative ramifications for the small mom-and-pop landlords already reeling from pandemic-era rent increase restrictions that cut into profits.
"We are making wholesale changes on the fly instead of discussing," Lee said, noting the measure should have more hurdles for tenants to prove hardship caused by the fires.
Los Angeles multifamily development is already stymied by the devaluing effects of Measure ULA — the "mansion tax" — which puts a levy on property sales topping $5.15 million, according to Los Angeles brokers. The number of multifamily units under construction has declined 12% in the past year in Los Angeles, even as it has climbed in similarly sized markets, with a 12% rise in Boston and an 8% increase in Miami, according to CoStar.
Sales of properties in Los Angeles valued at more than $5.15 million have dropped 70% since the launch of the tax, according to a study by the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California.