The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday took action against landlords who impose large rent increases on their tenants.
The council approved renter protections that include a stipulation that landlords must pay relocation fees for tenants if they raise rents by 10% or 5% plus inflation.
In those cases, tenants will get three months of rent (the fair-market value as determined by the city’s Housing Department) and $1,411 in moving costs.
For a one-bedroom apartment, fair market rent is about $1,750 per month, meaning those who relocate could receive $5,250 in addition to the moving costs.
As the Los Angeles Times noted, many of the city’s renters were already protected from such drastic rent increased by the city’s rent stabilization rules and state protections.
However, this law adds protection to about 84,000 units built since 2008, the Times said.
The new regulations were approved with an urgency clause, but because of dissenting votes by John Lee and Traci Park, they won’t go into effect immediately.