Renters and advocates press council to prioritize LARSO, tenant legal assistance and 3% cap
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Summary
Multiple public commenters urged the Los Angeles City Council to immediately agendize and pass LARSO updates (including a proposed 3% rent cap) and to restore or fund tenant legal-assistance programs, signaling strong activist pressure ahead of end-of-year council recesses.
A stream of public commenters at Wednesday’s Los Angeles City Council meeting urged members to prioritize tenant protections and programs for renters, including amending the Local Rent Stabilization Ordinance (LARSO) and funding tenant legal assistance.
"It is time to reform LARSO and cap the rent at 3%," said a speaker identifying herself as a young-adult leader with Inner City Struggle, who asked Council President Marquee Harris-Dawson to “champion your working-class constituents” and agendize LARSO immediately after the item clears the Housing and Homelessness Committee.
Christina Boyer of Public Counsel and Keep LA Housed told the council that many tenants are on February rent-increase schedules and urged immediate action: “If we have any shot at all for those tenants getting a fair rent increase, we have to act immediately,” she said. Boyer said updating the rent adjustment now is “the single most effective cost-neutral method to combat homelessness.”
Other speakers echoed those calls. Eloisa Galindo and Amparo Ybarra—both identified as ACE organizers—asked the council to cap rent increases at 3 percent and to restore funding for the City’s tenant legal-assistance programs. Thomas Martinez, a Boyle Heights resident, said he faces household instability after long-term harassment in his unit and appealed to Council President Harris-Dawson to act before council recesses.
Several renters described the broader stress they said is contributing to housing instability, including higher living costs and fears related to immigration enforcement. Speakers also asked members of the council to participate directly in community outreach and door-knocking in neighborhoods where renters say they are most at risk.
The council did not take any immediate vote on LARSO during this meeting; public speakers repeatedly asked council members to agendize the measure in committee and then in full council before the end of the year. Several commenters also urged the council to fund the Statehouse LA tenant-assistance program and to preserve local legal services for tenants facing eviction.
