LOS ANGELES (KNX) — There will be no rent hikes allowed for most Los Angeles renters until 2023 thanks to a city order, despite a rebounding housing market.
Under the order, landlords are prohibited from raising the cost of more than 650,000 rent-stabilized units, representing nearly three-quarters of L.A.’s apartment stock, according to a report from The Los Angeles Times.
Landlords are not allowed to increase rents for an entire year after the expiration of the emergency order signed by Mayor Eric Garcetti in March 2020, when the policy went into effect, the report said.
While the order is praised by tenants and their advocates, landlords are feeling the pressure of the freeze, citing rising costs of labor and materials for building repairs as well as city fees for trash pickup, according to The Times report.
Even though most cities that have adopted similar orders are moving away from those measures, Garcetti said he’s continuing the measures in L.A. in light of the recent surge in coronavirus cases.
“Angelenos should be focused on staying healthy and staying safe — not whether they can afford their home when they’re hurting financially as a result of this virus,” Garcetti said in a statement to The Times.
The city’s rent stabilization rules generally apply only to buildings built before October 1978.
Normally, landlords are allowed to raise rents on existing tenants by no more than 3% annually, depending on inflation, according to the report, but the order marked the first time in more than four decades that the city’s laws prevented landlords from raising rent.
While landlords are unable to mark up rent for existing tenants, the measure does not prevent them from upping rent for new tenants once a tenant vacates.
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