Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Evictions topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council votes to negotiate with HUD and seek rent-stabilization fixes after tenants report 30‑day no‑cause notices
Summary
The City Council approved a motion directing city negotiators to work with HUD and the city attorney to develop interim procedures and possible rent-stabilization amendments after advocates presented cases of elderly tenants receiving 30‑day no‑cause eviction notices from HUD-owned properties.
The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to authorize councilmember Goldberg’s motion directing city staff to meet with Housing and HUD representatives and to ask the city attorney to draft rent stabilization ordinance amendments to protect tenants in HUD-owned properties.
The action followed public testimony by tenant advocates and legal aid attorneys who described multiple cases in which long-term tenants — including elderly renters with low monthly rents — received 30-day no-cause notices after HUD took ownership of properties. Advocates said tenants did not receive relocation offers and that some evictions were already in litigation.
Christian Abasto of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and Mark Bender of Bet Tzedek Legal Services described clients who had lived in formerly rent‑controlled units for decades and said HUD ownership and foreclosure-related transfers had placed those tenants at risk. Abasto introduced tenants including an 84-year-old client who had been participating in the city’s rent escrow program and had received a 30‑day no‑cause notice.
Goldberg’s motion asked the city to meet with HUD to develop a memorandum of understanding (MOU) establishing interim procedures to protect tenants, and directed the city attorney to prepare any necessary amendments to the Rent Stabilization Ordinance. Councilmembers from both parties supported the motion, and members expressed urgency to prevent more displacements.
Councilmember Hernandez and others framed the issue as a loophole in the ordinance: if a private landlord loses a HUD loan and HUD becomes owner through foreclosure, tenants had effectively fallen out of local protections. The council requested that the mayor’s office be consulted and that any ordinance changes be developed quickly.
The motion carried 12-0. Councilmembers said the board of inquiry and other ongoing processes were separate from this matter. Advocates asked for quick follow-up and said they would work with city staff on drafting the MOU and ordinance language.
