The Los Angeles City Council approved tenant protections on Oct. 4 ahead of the planned end of the eviction moratorium on Jan. 31, 2023.

The city of Los Angeles’ eviction moratorium went into effect in March 2020 to protect renters during the COVID-19 pandemic. In February, Council President Nury Martinez, 6th District, requested a report from the Los Angeles Housing Department on ways to work with stakeholders and community members as the pandemic subsided. The Ad Hoc on COVID-19 Recovery and Neighborhood Investment Committee, chaired by Martinez, heard LAHD’s recommendations on Sept. 28, and Martinez introduced a series of amendments to the report seeking to strengthen tenant protections.

“These recommendations ensure that, once the eviction moratorium sunsets, we have a plan in place that protects our residents’ housing and preserves their financial well-being,” Martinez said. “We must put in place long-term, permanent protections for tenants while still preserving the livelihoods of our local mom and pop landlords.”

“When the pandemic began, the Los Angeles City Council enacted the nation’s strongest eviction protections, and [now] we are ensuring a careful, thoughtful transition as the pandemic recedes and this policy sunsets,” said Council President Pro Tempore Mitch O’Farrell, 13th District. “Taking that into consideration, we also approved a new Council District 13 Rental Aid Program, which will provide much-needed financial assistance to tenants and true mom and pop landlords in my district who are still struggling with housing payments due to COVID-19.”

One of the amendments passed by the Council includes expanding tenant protections beyond the city’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance. The universal “just cause” amendment would require specific reasons, such as a violation of a lease agreement, to evict a tenant in any unit. Currently, that protection is only applicable to units covered by rent control. After the City Council’s vote, on Oct. 4, the city attorney will draft an ordinance to be considered by the full council.

“The pandemic has shown us that too many people are living paycheck to paycheck,” Martinez said. “Missing one month of rent should not be a freefall into homelessness. We need to allow Angelenos to have a bad month without facing devastating consequences.”

For information, visit housing. lacity.org/highlights/renter-protections.