LOS ANGELES — Inside City Hall, Erika Hernandez recently sat and waited, clutching a cup of coffee.
“I’m a little nervous, yeah,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez is waiting for a crucial vote from the City Council — one that will determine whether her mother, Lourdes Mata, can stay in the apartment she’s called home for more than 35 years.
It comes nearly two years after Mata first received an eviction notice from her landlord, which cites a substantial remodel clause. Her landlord wanted to remodel her unit and others in her building, and he sought to evict Mata to complete the work.
Hernandez, her mother and organizers with the LA Tenants Union perk up as the Council brings up item 19 for a vote. And then, roaring applause. With a unanimous vote, comes relief. The Los Angeles City Council closing a loophole that allowed landlords to evict tenants if renovations took more than 30 days.
“I don’t even have words right now. I’m so in shock,” Hernandez said. “I’m so happy because now my parents don’t have to worry about being homeless.”
The Council’s decision makes these types of evictions illegal — at least until August — while the city works with LA’s housing department on a permanent solution.
Hernandez said the relief is two-fold, as her mother is also battling cancer.
“She’s in remission and she will be starting on to start medication that’s going to take a toll on her body. It’s going to affect her bones, and she needs to be at home, where she feels safe.”
Mata lives in Echo Park, represented by City Council member Hugo Soto-Martinez, who was instrumental in passing this ordinance.
“I think anybody that we can keep indoors and out of the eviction to homelessness pipeline, we got to take those victories,” Soto-Martinez said.
But not everyone agrees. Landlords who spoke at the meeting on Friday, said they’re being unfairly targeted.
“This ordinance is a result of a witch hunt by extremists that want to force mom and pop landlords out of business,” said David Kaishchyan with the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles.
According to city data, only 83 units have been affected by substantial remodel evictions since the pandemic-era eviction moratorium was lifted. In a city of more than 2.3 million renters, landlords argue that number is low. But Soto-Martinez said it marks what could have become a greater problem down the road.
“Any time we see some unscrupulous landlords trying to find loopholes to create a new business model we have to stop it, because we know that this might be happening to 85 families now, but it could happen potentially to more, so let’s nip it in the bud now while we can.”
For Hernandez’s family, the numbers don’t matter as much as the outcome. For now, they have a home.
“If this wouldn’t have gone through, we would probably be neighbors in the street, and there is no space in the street anymore.”
The City Council will revisit the issue in August as they work with the housing department on a permanent solution. In the meantime, tenants facing eviction because of substantial remodels can no longer be forced out.
