The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to approve a temporary rent stabilization policy in the unincorporated areas of LA County in order to protect renters threatened by skyrocketing rents.
The ordinance, expected to go into effect on Dec. 20, will set a 3 percent annual cap on rents for a temporary period of six months with base rent to be set as of Sept. 11, 2018.
The new rule will apply to LA County unincorporated areas, home to approximately 1 million county residents. An estimated 200,000 renters will be protected by the motion.
“Several recent local studies indicate that rent stabilization, thoughtfully adopted with other market regulation measures, can successfully protect tenants at risk of eviction with minimal negative impact on the housing market,” said Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who brought the motion to the board in September.
“If we want to stem the tide of people falling into homelessness and be sure our seniors, as well as other renters, are protected from eviction, we have to curb unrestricted growth in rents,” Kuehl said.
Earlier in the year, the Supervisors adopted a temporary 3 percent rent cap on renters living in mobile homes in unincorporated Los Angeles.
The Supervisors’ action Tuesday builds on recent county efforts to reduce homelessness through dozens of strategies including a significant expansion of street outreach, support services for individuals at risk of homelessness, and increased investment in affordable housing.
In its first year (2017-2018), the county’s Homeless Initiative placed 7,448 homeless families and individuals in permanent housing, and more than 13,000 people in crisis, bridge and interim housing.
Read the Board letter here.
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3 Comments
Restricting annual rent increases will not help reduce homelessness in a meaningful way. In fact it shows a total lack of understanding of basic economic principles.What’s needed is the political will to provide real long term incentives to builders and developers to build affordable rental housing, sustained financial help to homeless willing to move and remain in these housing units, and finally confront the obvious fact that a large population of homeless needs more than permanent and safe shelter. They need addiction treatment, mental health services, job skills training, sustained mentoring to help re-enter the
main stream of the society. We also need to deal with and come to terms with the fact that a large segment of the homeless population live on the fringes of society by choice.
I tried replying. Got message that there was a duplication. Do not see my message posted or confirmation of my message received and or being reviewed! How do I verify you got my original message regarding the rent moratorium?
This measure, despite it’s good intention, does nothing. The 3% cap is more then the pending 2.8 % Cost of Living increase on my only income, my Social Security retirement. As it is even at my low income senior housing, my rent already with 2 increases is already more then my current income! All this so called moratorium does is allow me to be one step closer the last straw, homelessness!