{"id":395174,"date":"2025-11-21T18:19:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T18:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/395174\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T18:19:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T18:19:11","slug":"los-angeles-approves-3-rent-increase-cap-for-rent-stabilized-apartments-annenberg-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/395174\/","title":{"rendered":"Los Angeles approves 3% rent increase cap for rent-stabilized apartments \u2013 Annenberg Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was published in collaboration with the Daily Trojan\u2019s Spanish Supplement. Si gustas leer este art\u00edculo en espa\u00f1ol, haga clic aqu\u00ed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On November 12, 12 of the 15 Los Angeles council members approved a reform that caps rent increases for rent-stabilized apartments to 3%<\/a>. This is one of the largest changes made to the Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance<\/a> since 1985.<\/p>\n

The change reduces the maximum limit from the previous 8% and lowers<\/a> the minimum limit for rent increases from 3% to 0%.<\/p>\n

This new reform will apply to all apartments built before 1978. <\/p>\n

For many renters who already spend nearly all of their income on housing, the reform reflects a long-needed adjustment. Approximately 44%<\/a> of Los Angeles residents currently live in rent-stabilized apartments. Of these, 238,000 use more than 90%<\/a> of their income to pay their rent. <\/p>\n

Under the old 3% to 8% limit, rent increases have outpaced<\/a> inflation in 23 of the last 30 years, placing a strain on low-income families.<\/p>\n

Victor Palacios, a second-year graduate student in digital media management, has lived his entire life in a rent-stabilized apartment with his family. For him, the protections in place for rent-stabilized apartments are what kept him in his home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what keeps us in the apartment, is that we will never find anywhere else with the price that we\u2019re paying currently\u201d, said Palacios, explaining the importance of the 3% cap, \u201cIt\u2019s good that it\u2019s helping people stay at a place that they have been for a long time […] since other things have gotten expensive […] having that rent cap can really benefit to alleviate a lot of economic pressure\u201d. <\/p>\n

According to the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) Action<\/a>, the impact of rent increases has been especially damaging in low-income communities around USC.<\/p>\n

ACCE Action is a statewide, grassroots, member-led community organization dedicated to giving a voice to everyday Californians, with more than 15,000 members across the state.<\/p>\n

Sergio Vargas, co-director of ACCE Action\u2019s LA subcentral region, explained that while the 3% cap is a step forward, it won\u2019t be enough for many families.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 3% was already a negotiation: our members and we, believe they should be lowering rents or freezing them, which we achieved during the pandemic,\u201d Vargas said in Spanish, explaining that for many residents, money is tight. \u201cThere isn\u2019t much money, so there are many people living in houses with other families, and it\u2019s very difficult to pay these very high rents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nancy Villanueva, the lead organizer for ACCE Action, described how ACCE Action works with many low-income districts, with a membership comprised of street vendors, day laborers, and domestic workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese jobs are very low-paying: their income is very low,\u201d Villanueva said in Spanish, explaining how many members do everything they can to pay their rent. \u201cThey\u2019ve cut back on food, they\u2019ve cut back on certain necessities like paying the phone bill, among other things, to be able to pay their rent on time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The neighborhoods Villanueva and Vargas work with are negatively affected by their proximity to USC.<\/p>\n

\u201cCorporate owners are coming in and buying from small landlords to build and offer high rents because there are students who can afford to pay $3,000,\u201d Vargas said. \u201cOur people who have been paying for 20 or 30 years […] are paying between $600 and $1,200, and there\u2019s an incentive to evict them so they can raise the rent to market rates.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of this is happening against a backdrop of tension in the Latine community of Los Angeles. According to Villanueva, due to the recent increase in immigration raids, many residents have stopped going to work.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany street vendors stayed home for several days out of fear,\u201d Villanueva said.<\/p>\n

On October 14, Los Angeles County declared a state of emergency due to immigration raids. The proclamation grants the county the power to assist residents who have been financially impacted by the raids.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople haven\u2019t been going to work.\u201d Vargas said, \u201cThis has led to people falling behind on their rent because they haven\u2019t been able to work […] People are going hungry to pay their rent\u201d.<\/p>\n

Although the reform represents a step forward, Vargas and Villanueva assert that the city must do more. Vargas specifically calls for the implementation of laws against landlord harassment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are horrific cases of verbal abuse, physical abuse, and people living in deplorable conditions,\u201d explained Vargas. \u201cThe city attorney is choosing not to take these cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vargas also criticized the city\u2019s budget priorities at a time when its residents need help.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of investing billions in a Convention Center, they should have given rental assistance to all those tenants who can\u2019t pay right now, who are two or three months behind on rent, who are about to receive an eviction notice next month,\u201d said Vargas.<\/p>\n

The City Council\u2019s decision marks an important step forward for rent-stabilized tenants, but the Palacios\u2019 story and the work of Vargas and Villanueva reflect how the housing debate in Los Angeles is far from over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article was published in collaboration with the Daily Trojan\u2019s Spanish Supplement. Si gustas leer este art\u00edculo en…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":395175,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,187487,2961,224,187488,187489,5337,187490],"class_list":["post-395174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-cd13","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-rent-stabilization","tag-los-angels-council-members","tag-losangeles","tag-rent-cap"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115589071982560666","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/395175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}