News and Events

LA Local News L.A. City Council Moves Forward to Strengthen Housing Inspection Program

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Los Angeles City Council Wednesday approved a motion seeking to improve the city's housing inspection capabilities to ensure timely and quality repairs for renters, and to encourage tenants and landlords to fully participate in the process.

The Council voted 12-0 on the matter. Council members Paul Krekorian and Curren Price recused themselves because they are landlords, and Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez was absent during the vote.

Read more

LA City Council Members Reject Rent Freeze Extension, Propose Lower Increases

In a heated committee meeting on Wednesday, Los Angeles city councilmembers struck down a proposal for a six-month extension on a pandemic-era ban on rent hikes that has covered most L.A. apartments for the past three-and-a-half years.

Instead, the council’s housing committee voted to advance a plan that would lower allowable rent increases scheduled for Feb. 1 from 7% to 4%. A rule that allows an additional 2% for landlords who cover gas and electric costs will remain, bringing the highest allowed increase to 6% in some cases.

That plan will now advance to the full city council for a final vote.

Read more

Landlords are getting saddled with higher costs. With everything going up, can you talk about passing costs onto tenants?

Q: Landlords are getting saddled with higher costs. With everything going up, can you talk about passing costs onto tenants? Also, RUBS, where units with more tenants pay a higher share of utilities. Seems sensible to me.

Bornstein, Esq.

We have a great deal of empathy for housing providers facing rising costs while being constrained in how much they can raise rents. While inflation has become a much-covered topic, the numbers are deceiving. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) takes into account certain consumer staples and does not adequately reflect the climbing costs landlords incur, such as appliances, what contractors are demanding for repairs, building materials, property taxes, and indeed, utilities.

Despite these hardships, we have to be careful in raising rents because Big Brother is watching, tenants have plenty of recourse to air out their grievances, and there is no shortage of tenants’ attorneys looking to find mistakes and even the score.

Read more

California to limit security deposits to 1 month’s rent under new law signed by Newsom

SAN FRANCISCO – Renters in California will no longer be asked for a security deposit larger than one month's rent, under a bill signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

On Wednesday, the governor signed Assembly Bill 12 by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco). According to Haney, the measure would stop the practice among certain landlords to charge two or even three times the monthly rent as a security deposit.

Read more

Pasadena rental housing board to decide relocation assistance rules

Soon some renters priced out of Pasadena, or otherwise evicted for no fault of their own, will get financial compensation and other forms of assistance from their landlord to help them relocate.
The Pasadena Rental Housing Board will adopt regulations establishing relocation assistance and services for covered tenants — those subject to no-fault evictions or large rent increases — at their Wednesday, Sept. 27 meeting.

Read more

Measure ULA lawsuit rejected by federal judge

A judge dismissed a legal challenge to Measure ULA in federal court on Sept. 5, making L.A. Superior Court the only current legal venue to decide the fate of the controversial transfer tax.

Read more

Rent Control to Be on November 2024 Ballot: For the 3rd Time!

A rent control ballot initiative very similar to past efforts under Propositions 10 (2018) and 21 (2020) has once again qualified to be on the ballot for the upcoming, November 2024 vote.

Read more

LA mayor wants ULA money to cover back-rent payments

Tenants rights groups have begged Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council to cancel millions of dollars in back rent before the payback deadline of Aug. 1.

Read more