Public Policy "NEWS"

Between 2010 and 2018, landlords filed 505,924 eviction proceedings   in Los Angeles County Superior Court, a figure that the report, titled “ Priced Out, Pushed Out, Locked Out ,” calls “shocking” and “staggering. The county has made enormous investments in addressing homelessness, but these efforts are not enough, says Nisha Vyas,   director of Public Counsel’s homelessness prevention law project. What we’re seeing is that as soon as people are housed in shelters, they’re replaced on the streets by people who are newly homeless. Los Angeles County Homeless Services Authority’s 2019 Homeless Count, which found that while 24,493 homeless residents were placed into interim housing in 2018, about 37,000 homeless residents were without shelter for the first time. The report’s authors also reiterated alarming statistics on the number of residents in Los Angeles who are rent burdened, meaning they spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent. According to an analysis of

AB 1482 could expand rent control in Los Angeles and now includes a “just cause” provision AB 1482 will have to be vetted next by the senate appropriations committee. If it ultimately approved in the full Senate (it already passed the Assembly) and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom, it would make it illegal for property owners to raise rents more than 7 percent, plus the Consumer Price Index, in one year. The CPI averages about 2.5 percent in California. Homes constructed in the past 10 years would be exempt, and the law would expire in 2023. The bill was heard by the committee Tuesday afternoon during a marathon session, but because several committee members were absent, it didn’t get the votes it needed until shortly before midnight. Several Los Angeles advocates, including a rep for Mayor Eric Garcetti and organizers with ACT-LA, were at the Capitol in Sacramento to register their support. California is one step closer toward having statewide rent control. I