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Rent Freeze Won in Committee!!!!
Attend Los Angeles City Council Hearing
THIS FRIDAY
Winning the Rent Increase Freeze Depends on Your Action!
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 DATE:
THIS FRIDAY,
May 7th
TIME:
10:00 a.m.
LOCATION:
L.A. CITY HALL
City Council Chambers -Room 340
200 N. Spring Street, Downtown LA
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RENT FREEZE WON IN COMMITTEE
NOW NEED FULL CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL FRIDAY
A Tremendous Tenant Victory Was Won Wednesday Members of CES & Allied Tenant Groups Pack City Council Housing Committee, Resulting in Rent Freeze Approval  |
When the LA City Council Housing, Community &
Economic Development Committee Voted 3 to 1 to
Support a 4 Months Moratorium with a Possible
2 Additional Months Extension this morning on a
3 to 1 vote (Wesson, Reyes, Alarcon - YES, Perry-NO)It's Now Do or Die. The Freeze Must Be Passed by
the Full City Council on Friday or Else LA Tenants
Can Begin Receiving Unjust 3% Rent Increase
on July 1stACT NOW! There's No Tomorrow!!!
Contact City Council Members and Urge Them to
Support
the Moratorium on All Rent Increases for Rent Controlled
Apartments That Will Be Voted on Friday.Write & Mail to:
LA City
Councilmember ______________
LA City Hall - Room ____________
200 N. Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Email & Call:
Los Angeles City Council Members
ED P. REYES
213-485-3451 Rm 410
[email protected]
PAUL KREKORIAN
213-473-7002 Rm 425
[email protected]
DENNIS P. ZINE
213-473-7003 Rm 450
[email protected]
TOM LABONGE
213-485-3337 Rm
480
[email protected]
PAUL KORETZ
213-473-7005 Rm 440
[email protected]
TONY CARDENAS
213-473-7006 Rm 455
[email protected]
RICHARD ALARCON
213-847-7777 Rm 470
[email protected]
BERNARD PARKS
213-473-7008 Rm
460
[email protected]
JAN PERRY
213-473-7009 Rm 420
[email protected]
HERB WESSON, JR
213-473-7010 Rm 430
[email protected]
BILL ROSENDAHL
213-473-7011 Rm 415
[email protected]
GREIG SMITH
213-473-7012 Rm 405
[email protected]
ERIC GARCETTI
213-473-7013 Rm 475
[email protected]
JOSE HUIZAR
213-473-7014 Rm 465
[email protected]
JANICE HAHN
213-473-7015 Rm 435
[email protected]
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Four-month freeze on apartment rents proposed by L.A. City Council committee
May 5, 2010
After roughly 90 minutes of angry testimony from tenants and landlords, a Los Angeles City Council committee called Wednesday for a four-month prohibition on rent increases at an estimated 630,000 apartments.
On a 3-1 vote, the Council's Housing, Community and Economic Development Committee supported a plan to bar owners of rent-controlled buildings - properties with two or more units that were constructed before 1978 - from raising rents on July 1.
The proposed moratorium heads to the City Council for a vote on Friday, setting the stage for a showdown between landlords and renters, both of whom said they have been struggling in the economic downturn. Under the plan, the moratorium could be extended an extra two months, to Dec. 31.
Councilman Herb Wesson, who heads the committee, said the moratorium would give council members time to assess a proposal to tie rent increases to the inflation rate. Wesson said his plan would serve as a compromise with Councilman Richard Alarcon, who wanted to ban landlords from raising rents on rent-controlled buildings for a full year.
Alarcon said landlords should not impose new costs on their tenants in the middle of a recession.
"Do I want to allow a group to increase its income when the people that they are providing apartments to are losing income? I have to say, I can't be a party to that," Alarcon told the audience. "I cannot align myself with allowing people to benefit when tens of thousands are struggling in Los Angeles."
Landlords spoke out against the plan, with some saying it would prompt them to have their property values reassessed downward to reflect their reduced value. Others said they would have a difficult time finding the money to repair and maintain their properties.
"This is financial suicide for the city," said Yolanda Gonzalez, who owns four apartments in Venice and another 14 in Boyle Heights.
Renters rights groups contend that unless a moratorium is enacted, the city's rent stabilization law would allow rent to go up by 3% on July 1 -- even though inflation was less than zero last year. Tenants now paying $1,000 a month, for example, would see their costs rise to $1,030. In certain large buildings where landlords pay for the utilities, rents could go up by as much as 5%.
Landlords and tenants packed the committee's hearing room and a spillover room at on the 10th Floor of City Hall at Wednesday's meeting.
Two building owners said rent control already made it to impossible to get loans to make long-term repairs. A third complained that the moratorium would go into effect on the same day that the Department of Water and Power imposes a 4.8% electricity rate hike.
Renters, in turn, talked about reductions in Social Security payments and their ongoing struggle to find work.
Venice resident Cindy Chambers told the committee that she lost her job in November 2008 and recently received a written notice that her rent would go up.
"My landlord knows my situation," Chambers said. "In fact, a few months ago he told me that living on unemployment must be a good life."
Backers of the moratorium include the Coalition for Economic Survival and the Los Angeles Community Action Network, two tenant groups. Foes of the plan include the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the Central City Assn., two business groups.
Councilwoman Jan Perry cast the lone vote against the proposal, saying it "polarizes the situation" between renters and landlords. Councilman Ed Reyes favored it, saying that as many as 75% of his constituents are renters.
"There are thousands and thousands of people out there in the working class who just don't have a voice."
-- David Zahniser at Los Angeles City Hall
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COALITION for ECONOMIC SURVIVAL (CES)
514 Shatto Place, Suite 270
Los Angeles, CA 90020
Tel: 213-252-4411
Fax: 213-252-4422
Email: [email protected]
Web site: www.CESinAction.org
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