LA City Councilmembers push to add more renter protections

After the Los Angeles City Council has approved a series of renter protection rules, members of the council’s progressive wing took to the steps of City Hall to rally for more renters rights on Tuesday, including a renters’ right to counsel bill, which Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez contended would cut evictions and homelessness.

“We made good on our promise. We passed renter protection,” Soto-Martinez said at the Feb. 14 rally. “But this is just the beginning.”

Councilman Bob Blumenfield told a group of less than 50 tenants rights activists at the Valentine’s Day rally that the council was going to support programs such as the right to counsel. It would be funded by the Measure ULA transfer tax, which won on the November ballot. About 10 percent of ULA revenue is earmarked to go to the right to counsel program. “ULA is a game changer,” Blumfield said.

The right to counsel law is modeled after a New York City law that was put on the books in 2017. It offers legal representation to people in danger of eviction. The measure’s advocates contend that it cuts the number of people made homeless and cuts costs at homeless shelters.

Later at the Feb. 14 City Council meeting, a hearing was held on transparency with utility bills for renters.

Councilwoman Nithya Raman introduced the measure for transparency on utility bills in February 2022, but it took a year to make it to the council floor for a hearing. The bill is modeled after a municipal law in Seattle, and will require landlords and third-party billing agencies to provide detailed written disclosures of methodology used to charge tenants. It also will develop a protocol for tenants and landlords to resolve utility charges disputes with the possibility of the L.A. Housing Department acting as mediator.

Daniel Yukelson, executive director of property owners trade group Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, said that Raman’s transparency law is unnecessary. A similar law is currently in the California Civil Code in Section 1940.9, he said.

“It’s more posturing, where allegedly they’re trying to protect the renters from the landlords who are trying to take advantage of them,” Yukelson said.

Josh Nuni, legislative director for Raman’s 4th district, said Raman’s bill will offer more robust protections for tenants. Unlike the civil code, it also will offer mediation in bill disputes.

Since the beginning of the ear, the council has passed several renter protection rules, including “just cause” evictions and relocation payments.