Los Angeles County supervisors voted 4 to 1 on Setember 11 (2018) in favor of temporarily restricting landlords in unincorporated communities from raising rents more than 3 percent per year. The so-called rent freeze will have to be voted on again before taking effect. That’s likely to happen in 60 days, and if ultimately approved, it would limit increases to 3 percent per year for six months, using today’s rent levels as the baseline.
Los Angeles has the highest rate of unsheltered homeless people in the U.S., and, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, more than a quarter of those people without shelter fell into homelessness for the first time in 2017. Nearly half of the 9,205 people experiencing homelessness for the first time said it was due to a loss of employment or other financial reasons, according to the homeless services authority.
Many renters across Los Angeles are stretched thin. An analysis from Zillow released first week of September found that LA renters earning close to the area’s median income have to set aside nearly 47 percent of their paycheck to afford rental payments. That’s the highest amount among all 35 metro areas studied by Zillow, including New York and San Jose.
We reminder that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development classifies those who spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing as “cost-burdened. “The lack of affordability is unprecedented,” said supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. Armed with a new study from UC Berkeley, critics also lambasted rent control as ineffective – a claim challenged by other analysts and urban planners.
Vanessa Carter, a senior data analyst at USC’s Program for Environmental and Regional Equity, said the county’s proposal would be categorized as a “moderate” form of rent regulation, which increases housing stability but does not discourage developers from building new apartments. “The housing crisis requires a range of strategies, including increasing the supply of affordable housing,” Carter said. But rent regulation, she added, “is an important tool.
”The freeze would would apply only to unincorporated Los Angeles County, affecting about 200,000 renters, according to Kuehl’s office. Under a state law known as Costa-Hawkins, it would apply only to buildings constructed before 1995 and would exclude condos and single-family homes. Unincorporated communities include those outside the boundaries of the city of Los Angeles, which has its own rent stabilization ordinance. Examples of unincorporated communities include East LA, Marina Del Rey, View Park/Windsor Hills, and Willowbrook. To check the map click HERE.
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