LOS ANGELES — Sitting in a bustling gymnasium full of community organizers, City Council members and attorneys, Esmeralda Diaz is listening intently to find out what she can do to stay housed, despite owing three months of unpaid rent starting Feb. 1.
Diaz is a mother of four, who said she’s fallen on hard times and is struggling to pay the nearly $5,000 she owes.
“Last year, I lost my SSI, so the only source of income I’m getting right now is my husband’s,” Diaz said. “If I do end up getting evicted, I have nowhere to go. I will probably end up on the streets with my kids and I will be homeless.”
Diaz is just one of thousands of tenants in Los Angeles who might be facing an eviction, as pandemic-era protections have ended, and any unpaid rent between October 2021 and January 2023 comes due.
According to the LA Housing Department, more than $472 million is owed. And as of right now, only $30 million is available through Measure ULA funding to relieve that debt.
Last Friday, City Council members passed a motion to protect tenants for an additional 120 days, if they’re already approved for rental assistance, but haven’t received their checks.
“In my view, it would be unacceptable for people who have been approved for that assistance to be evicted from their home, simply because our bureaucracy has ground too slowly to get them their checks on time,” City Council President Paul Krekorian said.
The motion is expected to protect about 3,000 households who are already approved, and a few more thousand from a pool of applicants who meet the requirements for approval but haven’t had their paperwork processed. That leaves more than 14,000 tenants still at risk of eviction.
The wave of evictions would come at a time when many tenants have already been displaced. According to the LA City Controller’s office, more than 77,000 evictions were filed in Los Angeles between February and December 2023. At the same time, homelessness has grown nearly 10% across LA city and county last year.
Low-income tenants in rent-controlled units are also bracing for another deadline. As of February 2024, landlords in RSO buildings can raise rent anywhere from 4% to 6%, for the first time in nearly four years.
Daniel Yukelson, who represents landlords through the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, said that with sky-high insurance premiums and interest rates, landlords are struggling, too. Yukelson said they need this money to stay afloat.
“It’s unfortunate because the property owners are going to have to sit back and probably wait another four months to get money,” he said. “At the end of the day, the owner needs to cover their costs. They have a mortgage to pay and a family to support, like every other working person.”
Despite those circumstances, Diaz said she is hoping landlords are more understanding with their tenants.
“Especially with mothers that are single mothers with children,” she said. “And especially if elderly people have SSI like I do, they’re going to be at risk of being homeless.”