(KTLA) — Los Angeles City Council members Eunice Hernandez and Hugo Sotomartinez have filed a motion to protect working-class residents from the threat of evictions and rent increases amid Southern California’s wildfire crisis.
Mr. Hernandez and Mr. Sotomartinez represent Districts 1 and 13, respectively, which include neighborhoods such as Highland Park, Echo Park, Chinatown and Elysian Valley.
The bill calls for a moratorium on evictions for tenants affected by the fires and a one-year moratorium on rent increases until January 2026. Under the motion, if passed, tenants affected by the recent bushfires would not be evicted.
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“The wildfires are still burning and the damage is growing by the day,” Hernandez said in a statement. “Los Angeles is already in the midst of a housing and homelessness crisis. Bad actors will take advantage of this catastrophe. We cannot allow that to happen,” he said. If we don’t act soon, price gouging for working-class tenants will cause a second wave of disasters, raising rents and evictions in what is already one of the world’s most affordable markets. Dew. Nation. “
City Council members also pointed to a 2019 MIT study that found eviction rates can nearly double after natural disasters.
In recent days, local and state officials have warned people considering risking the price of essentials like housing and food.
The motion will be heard by the Housing and Homelessness Committee and returned to City Council for a vote in the coming weeks.
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