Clashes between tenants and rental home owners in Los Angeles have soared 300% in the past two months, according to a report by the University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg news site Crosstown.
To prevent quarrels from continuing, Landlords have proposed a bill creating an Emergency Rental Assistance program, which would cause the state to help tenants affected by the coronavirus pay the majority of the rent.
Between April 1 and 10, Los Angeles police received an average of 56 phone calls per day related to tenant-landlord disputes. In the same time period, but in March, 22 calls per day were recorded; vs. 19 in February.
On April 1 alone, when the rent was due, the LAPD received 100 calls about discussions between tenants and landlords.
For not paying the rent
Yadira Michel and her husband Alonso Ceceña were about to go to jail when agents from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) appeared at their home to take them into custody after the owner of the home they rented, the reported after an argument.
"This May, we couldn't pay the rent because my husband, who earns a living as a day laborer, lost his job.Yadira says.
“Since the coronavirus started, the problems with the owner have increased, because the place where we live is part of their house. It goes down to switch (switch) light when you want, and leaves us without power for hours. He yells at us like we're criminals. You are abusing your authority. And since she has a police son at the LAPD. The son also comes and insults us very ugly ”.
For the past eight years, Yadira and her husband Alonso have lived with their four children, ages 15, 11, 8 and 3, in a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles. The list of complaints against your landlord is very long.
In March, the city of Los Angeles launched a moratorium on housing evictions, and gave up to 12 months to pay the rent, once the coronavirus emergency arises.
Landlords Fight Back
José Velásquez, owner of two rental homes in Sylmar in the San Fernando Valley, said that the ordinances approved by the City of Los Angeles have created a lot of confusion among tenants, and that has motivated the lawsuits.
"The last ordinance said that to stop paying the rent, it was enough that they showed that they had been affected by the coronavirus, but then the state came and said that it was not necessary."
According to Velásquez, the fact that the tenants stop giving the rent is a very hard blow; since they have to keep paying the maintenance, taxes and mortgages.
"The renegotiation of mortgages is left to the goodwill of the banks. They ask you for a lot of information. It is not an easy process, ”he observes.
Daniel M. Yukelson, director of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, which represents more than 10,000 landlords, comments that tenants and rental homeowners are in the same boat.
"The coronavirus crisis has stressed us all, and left us with a very short temperament"
Like Velásquez, he believes that the ordinances have created confusion and disagreements, because in some cases, some tenants want to warn that they will not be able to pay the rent until 30 days after their due date.
‘We are frustrated that this could have been handled in a better way. We understand that many tenants have lost their jobs or become infected with the virus, but also landlords have accounts payable. ”
He anticipates that in the coming months, the negative consequences will be reflected in the loss of many homes that will go on to become condominiums, which people will not be able to pay"
Emergency Assistance
Yukelson explains that they have proposed to the California legislature, a measure that they sponsor, to give emergency help with paying the rent. "This should have happened from the beginning of this crisis."
Senate Bill 1410 of Long Beach Senator Lena González seeks to have the State of California make direct payments of 80% to rent on the home of tenants who cannot pay due to the pandemicto.
Landlords who accept will receive 80% of the monthly rent for up to three months. This in exchange for not increasing the rent for a specific period, not charging late fees, and not looking for the rent for the months paid by the Emergency Income Assistance Program by COVID-19.
