Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Rent Stabilization topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Tenants press council to update LA rent‑control formula; council took public comment but no vote
Summary
Dozens of tenants and tenant organizers urged the City Council to revise the Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance formula during public comment, calling for a 3% cap or 60% of CPI and removal of utility and occupancy add‑ons. Council did not take substantive action on LARSO at the meeting.
Dozens of tenants, organizers and advocates crowded the Los Angeles City Council public‑comment period Wednesday to urge an update to the Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance (LARSO), arguing current allowable annual increases are too high and are driving evictions and displacement.
Speakers representing Keep LA Housed, ACE and local tenant groups delivered petitions and told the council they seek a LARSO formula that caps annual increases at 3% or at 60% of the Consumer Price Index with no minimum increase, and that removes extra permitted increases for utilities and additional occupants.
“LARSO is an incredibly important law, but its current allowable rent increases are too high for Angelenos,” Skyler (last name on file) said during the public‑comment period, asking council members to adopt the Keep LA Housed demands. A string of residents described rent hikes they said ranged into double digits; one speaker said his rent had risen 40%.
Council members did not vote on LARSO during the meeting. The clerk closed public comment after roughly 45 minutes of testimony and the council proceeded to votes on agenda items. Several speakers told the clerk they had organized a town hall and were disappointed that some council offices did not attend.
Advocates handed petitions and asked the council president and specific councilmembers representing affected districts to respond. Organizers said their campaign includes hundreds of signed petitions and urged the council to move quickly because tenants “face eviction now, not next year.”
The meeting also featured testimony from civilian LAPD evidence and property staff who warned about proposed civilian workforce cuts. Krista Figueroa, an evidence and property officer, told the council the unit is critical to maintaining chain of custody for sexual‑assault kits and other evidence and warned layoffs could degrade forensic and prosecution capacity.
Council members acknowledged the testimony and the broader housing pressure but did not take immediate legislative action on LARSO. Advocates said they would continue organizing and return to future hearings until the council advances the proposed formula changes.
The council encouraged written comments to be submitted online for staff and committee consideration.
