Tenants in L.A. County reeling financially from the January wildfires could be protected from eviction for the next six months.
The L.A. County Board of Supervisors considered a proposal Tuesday to temporarily bar landlords from evicting renters who have taken a significant financial hit from the fires.
The motion, put forward by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, is meant to encompass not just renters who lost homes in the fires but anyone whose livelihood was affected, including landscapers, housekeepers and caregivers. It would apply to all of L.A. County, including the areas devastated by the Eaton and Palisades fires.
“These workers live throughout Los Angeles County — not only in or near the fire zones,” said Horvath, stressing that the proposal is a “narrowly targeted eviction protection” and not a blanket rent ban.
“Workers need time — not forever, just a little time,” added Horvath, whose district includes Pacific Palisades and Malibu.
The supervisors voted 4 to 0 to ask county lawyers to draft a resolution to protect tenants countywide who owe rent due between Feb. 1 and July 31. Supervisor Kathryn Barger abstained from the vote, saying she was concerned the county was asking too much of small landlords who were financially struggling themselves.
“I feel like someone’s got to be the voice for the landlord,” said Barger, whose district includes Altadena.
To qualify, a tenant would need a household income equal to or less than 150% of the area median income — about $147,000 for a family of four.
Renters must also sign a self-attestation form that they lost at least 10% of their income due to the fires. This could be because their place of employment burned down, they were laid off or their clients scattered.
Tenants would need to pay the back rent they owe by July 31, 2026 — one year after the protection expires.
The motion also directs county staff to consider a fund that could pay landlords for late rent. The fund would start with $10 million, though the supervisors agreed that number was a drop in the bucket compared with the need and wanted it to be supplemented by philanthropy.
“It wouldn’t get us very far,” acknowledged Rafael Carbajal, head of the county’s Department of Consumer and Business Affairs, which would spearhead the fund.
A stream of workers Tuesday described having their earnings wiped out by the fires. Maria Hernandez, who landscapes with her husband, said she’s facing eviction after the houses where she worked burned down. Another woman said she had lost half of her wages.
Rose Lenehan, a tenant organizer with the advocacy group L.A. Tenants Union, called the temporary ban a “basic, minor first step.”
“Maria lost 10 houses. Esther lost $500 every week in work. Jorge lost three houses,” she said, gesturing to workers in the crowd. “We need this protection.”
But the proposal faced stiff opposition from many landlords who said they, too, were financially devastated by the wildfires and felt the county had meddled too many times with their livelihood through eviction moratoriums during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Please forgive me when I say this — owners don’t trust you,” said Meg Sullivan, who described herself as a mom-and-pop landlord.
Sullivan said she had friends who lost properties and hundreds of thousands of dollars during the pandemic due to renters taking advantage of the ban on evictions. When one of her own units became available during the pandemic, she said she and her husband decided it was safer to keep it vacant.
“If you pass this, owners will take units off the market precisely when you desperately need them,” she said.
Many said they didn’t trust the county to quickly dispense money, citing a similar fund for landlords created after the pandemic that was plagued with delays.
“We’ve got to tighten up our own time frame,” Supervisor Holly Mitchell agreed.
The Los Angeles City Council debated similar eviction protections for weeks, but the measure has failed to pass because of concerns from some council members that it is too broad and will unduly burden small-time landlords.
Some property owners have said they are still trying to recover from local pandemic-era policies that froze rent and prohibited many evictions.
“I am on the verge of losing my properties,” South L.A. landlord Dexter McClendon told City Council members at a recent meeting. “Please, please understand, everybody in here is not after the tenants to make money. We are here to help the people, to house people and help people and their families.”
On Tuesday, the council voted to postpone consideration of additional eviction protections until March, following a request from Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who has been fighting for the new rules, which unlike the county proposal, did not limit eligibility by income.
If approved by the supervisors, the county eviction moratorium would apply in the city of L.A.
“I think we can come to a solution, so I want to work with my colleagues on doing that,” Hernandez said, asking for more time to craft a compromise. “I hope people can hear that and work with us.”