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Local Advocacy Update
Local Advocacy Update
By Danielle Leidner-Peretz, Director, IGovernment Affairs & External Relations
that should be used to evaluate further extensions of the County’s eviction moratorium and (ii) a 90-day report providing a phase-out plan of the County’s eviction moratorium, based on an analysis of the recommended metrics. It is anticipated that the 90-day report will be available prior to the January 25th Board meeting.
While we recognize the current challenges of the Omicron variant, circumstances have significantly changed with the availability of vaccinations and a booster, State eviction protections and a Rent Relief program for qualified renters and rental housing providers. We continue to urge localities to establish targeted long-term solutions and for the immediate expiration of eviction moratoriums and/or rent increase freezes.
Due to the myriad of jurisdictions, each with different rules, we encourage members to confirm the status of any local moratoriums / rent increase freezes in localities in which you have property and consult with an attorney with questions related to specific tenancies and the applicability of local ordinances.
Our Association is continually monitoring and advocating for our members interests in localities throughout Southern California on a multitude of critical issues affecting the rental housing industry. Summarized below are some of the issues that will be coming up, that were recently considered or that have been approved.
Los Angeles City Council Once Again Extends Local Emergency and Related Emergency Measures
On Friday, January 7th, the Los Angeles City Council held their first meeting of 2022 and once again extended the City’s local emergency for another 30 days. The City Council began the new year on the same path as the previous two years, by extending emergency measures without discussion or/and long overdue evaluation of the multiple measures, including the City’s eviction moratorium and rent increase freeze ordinances, whose expirations are directly linked to the end of the local emergency.
At the beginning of December 2021, the City Council directed the City’s Administrative Officer (CAO) to report back in 30 days on all emergency ordinances and policies that are in effect for the duration of the local emergency. The purpose of the report is to help inform the Council
t has been a dynamic start to the new year as local governments continued deliberations on outstanding issues of the previous year. As COVID-19 remains ever present in our lives, COVID-19 related government instituted measures, unfortunately, remain as well. Local government action, however, should be forward thinking, subject to periodic reevaluation and modifications based on the
current circumstances and the robust resources and programs available, not simply continual extension of interim emergency measures adopted, nearly two years ago, in 2020.
In January, several localities took action relative to their local eviction moratoriums and/or rent increase freezes. The City of Los Angeles extended their declaration of local emergency for another 30 days and with it the extension of the eviction moratorium and rent increase freeze. The Beverly Hills City Council continued deliberations during a study session on January 18th regarding the expiration of the City’s eviction moratorium and rent increase freeze but delayed making a decision and directed that the issue be revisited at the next scheduled City Council meeting on February 8th. In the City of Manhattan Beach, another city that had adopted an eviction moratorium in 2020 and linked its expiration to the end of the city’s local emergency, the City Council took action in January to terminate their residential eviction moratorium effective on February 18, 2022 (the city’s commercial eviction moratorium, however, remains in place).
The cities of Alhambra and West Hollywood, concerned over whether the Los Angeles Countywide eviction moratorium, which is set to expire on January 31, 2022, will be extended by the Board of Supervisors, advanced preemptive measures in case the County’s eviction moratorium is not further extended. It is anticipated that the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors will discuss the eviction moratorium and any extension thereof at their upcoming January 25th Board meeting. On a related note, in September 2021, when the Board of Supervisors extended the eviction moratorium and rent increase freeze through January 31, 2022, the Board also approved a motion made by Supervisors Barger and Hahn which called for two reports: (i) a 30-day report on recommended data, metrics and other pertinent criteria
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