Latest news with #Soto-Martinez
CBS News
06-02-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Rent freeze rejected, some tenants protections for fire victims advanced by LA City Council committee
A Los Angeles City Council committee rejected a proposed one-year rent freeze but approved moving forward with some tenants' protections for residents who lost their homes or jobs in the recent wildfires. The motion for those rental protections will head to the full city council for a vote after being approved by the council's Housing and Homelessness Committee on Wednesday. It includes a prohibition on certain evictions, such as for non-payment of rent, for those affected by the fires — safeguards which require residents to provide documentation proving they experienced economic hardship. The initial proposal had mandated that tenants self-attest under perjury that they were affected by the wildfires. A year-long moratorium on rent hikes for all apartments in the city was rejected by the committee. The initial proposal, which included the other tenants' protections, would have directed the city attorney to draft an ordinance barring all rent increases until Jan. 31 of next year. The proposal was introduced by Councilmembers Adrin Nazarian, Eunisses Hernandez, Hugo Soto-Martinez. Last week, the city council sent it back to committee following a heated debate among councilmembers over how expansive protections for tenants should be — specifically a moratorium on all LA apartment rent rates — some arguing against what they called a blanket policy overburdening landlords while others said it's a needed measure particularly for those put out of work by the fires. "We can't keep putting the city's problems on the backs of our housing providers who are still suffering from the devastating effects of the rent freezes, to blanket eviction protections without documentation, from the COVID era," Councilmember Traci Park said during last week's meeting. Soto-Martinez defended the proposed rent freeze, describing it as "a narrowly tailored policy that is seeking to help people who have had economic hardship, or who have lost their jobs due to the fires." "This is not an eviction moratorium," Soto-Martinez said. "This is an eviction gives the tenant the ability to defend themselves if they are being evicted, and there is a process for that... there is no blanket policy." Another ordinance protecting tenants, allowing them to welcome unauthorized additional tenants or pets displaced in the wildfires, was approved by the city council on Tuesday.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Los Angeles City Council delays proposed eviction moratorium for wildfire victims
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – A proposal to protect tenants impacted by the recent Eaton and Palisades fires, which included a moratorium on evictions, was delayed at Wednesday's Los Angeles City Council meeting. The proposed measures, backed by Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, aim to help renters, many of whom lost their jobs as a result of the wildfires. 'Thousands of workers who commuted to the Palisades to work as housekeepers and other workers are suddenly out of work and now face the looming threat of losing their homes,' Hernandez said at a rally outside City Hall. Those backing the motion say the proposed program would last a year and that tenants would still be on the hook to pay the back rent next year. During the lengthy public comments section of Wednesday's meeting, the council heard arguments from those on either side of the issue. 'We need you guys to pause this rent,' one woman told council members. 'Many people are unable to their right now because they don't have work.' Some housing providers against the proposal, like Josh Luchs, agreed that people suffering because of the fires should be assisted but feels the motion overreaches in areas like simply have tenants self-attest to their hardship in order to qualify. 'They shouldn't be allowed to simply say, 'I was affected,' and not pay the rent because the landlord still has to pay the mortgage, the water bill and the rising cost of insurance,' Luchs told KTLA's Lauren Lyster. Blind Southern California boy who lost home in Eaton Fire gets musician's gift In response to questions about having more scrutiny than a simple self-attestation, Soto-Martinez explained to KTLA that the attestation comes under penalty of perjury. Other council members argued that the motion was too broad and needs more work. 'I can't support the notion of it right now without the findings and understanding the problem and the solution and making sure that they are balanced,' Councilmember Bob Blumenfield said at the meeting. The idea of the city helping renters directly with some type of financial relief was also floated during the meeting. 'Unfortunately, the emergency rental assistance program we have has been completely tapped out,' Soto-Martinez said. In the end, the council voted to send the proposal back to the Housing and Homelessness Committee so more work can be done on the proposal. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
