Los Angeles Right to Housing Collective Fights for Tenant Rights
City Council and LAPD respond by betraying tenants and arresting three LA CAN members

City Council made tenants wait over five hours before declining to vote on a moratorium against rent increases. Instead, Council President Eric Garcetti introduced a motion to send the issue back to committee. The motion passed 10-5, essentially ensuring rents will go up for most tenants on July 1st. The votes in favor of tenant rights were Councilmembers Alarcon, Hahn, Huizar, Krekorian and Wesson.

When tenants voiced their anger, frustration and disappointment by chanting loudly in Council Chambers, Acting President Dennis Zine ordered Los Angeles Police Department to remove tenants from council. About 30 LAPD officers began roughly forcing tenants out of Council chambers. One Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN) member was forced to the ground against a wall by several officers, his tee shirt ripped almost in two, and another was hog tied after being roughly pulled to the ground by his neck. Another disabled female LA CAN member was arrested solely for shouting at Council that this was all Council’s fault. More than four hours later, all are still being detained and LAPD claim they are being “processed.”

City Council spent the first two and a half hours of the meeting giving out ceremonial awards, making hundreds of people who had come to Council wait. Although the chambers were 90% filled with people interested in the moratorium, on either side of the issue, Council heard several other items before finally hearing the item. The measure would have suspended an automatic 3% rent increase for four months, with an exemption for “mom and pop” landlords.

Tenants asked for this relief because the rent increase, usually based on the Consumer Price Index, was negative .6 last year and so they did not believe landlords should be entitled to an increase. In the 25 years since the 3% “floor” was enacted, the CPI has been under 3% eleven times, thus giving landlords a rent increase regardless of inflation. As low-income people are facing cuts in wages and benefits, unemployment, hikes in bus fares and DWP costs, and more, a rent increase may just be the final push, forcing families into the streets.

Raw video is available at:
http://www.ktla.com/videobeta/8dc76858-78e8-41c6-bebd-14dc1797721c/News/KTLA-Rent-Control-Advocates-and-LAPD-Clash-at-City-Hall-Raw-Video

Look at how it plays out - the districts where landlords live and are active are siding with landlords.

The districts where these landlords own property and run their rental business voted for the tenants. These are the south side and east side of L.A. This does not mean Silver Lake, where Garcetti's at - that district used to be a solid tenant's district but the gentrification is making it into a landlord district. Parks also sided with the landlords despite his district covering half of south LA - because the guy is one of the most conservative members on the council and he plays the race card like a cheater.

Tenants outnumber landlords. It's impossible for things to be otherwise. We have a popular majority. Tenants in L.A. are demographically heavily immigrant and also by definition mostly working class. We have the numbers, but lack the votes. (And money.)

Also, the landlord sob stories are f'n absurd. These are SALAD DAYS for landlords:

- The 2008 crash led to numerous foreclosures in the poor parts of LA, and landlords have been snapping up properties and converting them into rentals. Many bought with cash, and got steep discounts.

- Rents are down due to severe unemployment, but the foreclosures have forced thousands of people into the rental market - and rents are being propped up for now.

- Crime is down, and gentrification is up. Even Villaraigosa is holding fast on his promise to fund cops even while social benefits are slashed.

- Inflation is down, near zero, or negative. Wages are slammed - down 15% in many middle class jobs, and the only growth is in the sub-$10 an hour jobs. There's no economic recovery for workers in 2010 (or 2009 or 2008). So the cost of maintenance has been flat for nearly half the past decade. (Cost of supplies has gone up, but the supplies cost less than labor.)

- Condo conversions took thousands of units off the market, constricting the supply. This props up rents.

It's been so many years since rent control was enacted. There have been many new units built, and many old ones demolished. Here's an idea of what we, the people, need (in my not so humble opinion). It's not achievable today, but maybe in the future. We need a new law that will bring units built since 1978 under rent control. We need rent control voting rights to be popularized, to extend to all residents of LA. This includes immigrants, undocumented immigrants, ex-convicts, emancipated minors, We need ways for renters to become owners of their own units. We need a progressive property tax, to discourage absentee landlordism, and encourage condo conversions that preserve residents staying in their own apartments.

The lies that "rents have gone down" does not include anyone who has been a renter in 1 location ...

because no landowner has ever lowered the rent previously required.

Maybe a few places new renters are paying less than those who leased on before, ,,, where rents were raised higher and higher by greedy landowner BUSINESSmen, maybe.

If over-priced and then lowered to what renters can afford to pay, then only have rents been lowered in any way...from dream rents to real rents...

but anyone who lives in a rental, has not paid less than any month before to retain them...especially if responsible, decent renter is there,

maybe a smile or a 'hello , maybe not even that,

but the CUMMULATIVE RISE adding up each year makes the doubing of rents in the last 20 years...
tho no one has had their actual earnings rise like that
w/o being criminal...like landowners are legally being.

The ceiling with Rent Control is to keep even the greediest from sending everyone out of Los Angeles because they cant find work here and cant pay exorbitant rents.

Elders, seniors, disabled are paying 80% of their income or 100% on rent alone, not counting ultilites. I am. Food banks are saviors and do not increase their fees yearly.

The old lie that says 'dont pay more than 30% of income on shelter/ home/ rent" has long ago been found to not be realistic.

The homeowners apartment owners associations with their attorneys and PR depts sell our polititians convenient lies like "they need to spend time monitoring the interests on the security deposits collected from renters' which is "Work" they have to be recompensed for.

Read the Rent Control reasons for why they keep increasing the same old same OLD falling apart apartments, with minimum repairs legally required to be done only.

And apt owners are IMPROVING THEIR OWN PROPERTIES when repairs are made, which increases or keeps their values for themselves, yet want to charge renters for these repairs in any and every way.

who are these same old greedy uncompassionate and uncaring BUSINESS OWNERS claiming they need to increase their profits every single year ? yep.
apt owners....

and on Pat Morrison KPCC show, they framed themselves as "mom and pop businesses"...how many of those poor ole folk own buildings worth at least over $500,000 now ?
huh?

such liars, greedy people with no 'customer service' skills and who hide behind voice mail only and post office box addresses to boot !

no requirement to be reachable directly in Rent Control laws either.

What is fair in LA ? only in Pomona, the animals on display.