L.A. County approves eviction protections after January fires

For six months, landlords in Los Angeles County will be prohibited from evicting tenants who were financially impacted by the January 2025 wildfires, including the Eaton and Palisades fires. 

The new protections were part of an ordinance adopted on Tuesday by the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, which passed 4-1, with Supervisor Kathryn Barger abstaining. 

The passing of the ordinance came almost two months after the fires, which killed at least 29 people, forced more than 200,000 residents to evacuate, and destroyed more than 18,000 homes and structures. 

“Tonight’s victory was a huge win for Los Angeles. This is a county of renters and these new protections will bring immediate relief and reassurance to a lot of people as they rebuild their lives,” Christina Boyar, an attorney at Public Counsel and law firm part of the Keep LA Housed Coalition, told CALÒ News on Tuesday. 

More than physical destruction, the fires also economically affected the household finances of thousands of workers, many of them Latino. According to the preliminary data from the Department of Economic Opportunity, over 20,000 businesses and over 125,000 employees have been affected, alongside independently employed landscapers, housekeepers or child caregivers. 

Following the devastating wildfires, several housing rights organizations quickly mobilized to support residents of L.A. County, particularly as incidents of rent price gouging escalated in the days and weeks that followed. 

“Los Angeles has consistently been one of the most unaffordable housing markets in the country, with the majority of its tenants rent-burdened and an unhoused population of over 75,000 people,” the motion stated. “With thousands of displaced families adding pressure to the rental market, it’s critical that we do everything we can to keep people in the housing they are currently in.”

The Keep LA Housed Coalition was one of the groups behind the groundbreaking motion. After the fires, the group pressed the Board of Supervisors to protect tenants who have lost their jobs or source of income. 

Kyle Nelson, senior policy and research analyst at Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE), also part of the Keep LA Housed coalition, said the ordinance will protect a very large number of people across the county. “Our hearts go out to the people of Altadena and the Palisades who lost their homes, but it’s reassuring to see new protections to prevent other people from losing their homes,” he said. 

Given that disasters like these have a profound impact on the local economy, the coalition's main objective for the ordinance was to guarantee that protection was implemented in all 88 of the county, cities and incorporated areas, not just in the communities where actual fire damage occurred. 

 ”What this motion does is bring some breathing room, some relief to renters impacted by the fires. There are many people in Los Angeles County, not just in the burn areas but all over the county, who've lost their income because they often work in informal markets. Or have had businesses they work at burned down,” Boyar told CALÒ News. “They are gardeners or landscapers [working] in houses that have burned down.”

According to a prediction made last month by the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute, the wildfires could result in the temporary or permanent displacement of at least 35,000 Latino-held jobs. 

Although Latinos comprise 23% of the population across the three fire evacuation zones (Eaton, Palisades and Hurst), they account for 36% of all workers in those areas. 

As stated by the report, the disparity is particularly striking in the Palisades Fire zone, where Latinos hold 34% of jobs despite representing only 7% of the population. 

Similarly, Latinos account for 33% of residents but 47% of workers in the Hurst Fire zone. The comparable percentages in the Eaton Fire zone are 27% and 35%. 

The renter protection measure will forbid and make it unlawful for landlords to evict tenants, except for those who are of high income. Protections apply to households that make less than 150% of the area median income. For a family of four, that equals roughly $147,000. For a couple, it would be $117,825, and about $103,125 for a single person

To qualify for this relief, tenants must tell their landlord, in writing, that they can’t pay their rent because they were economically impacted by the fires. As stated in the ordinance, they must declare that they have lost at least 10% of their income. 

The protection applies to tenants who have lived in their unit since before January 7, when the fires began. Eviction protection will extend until July 31, 2026. After that date, tenants will be required to pay back any money they owe or face eviction. 

Boyar said this is just one step of tenant protection that both the city and county should install and work towards. “This is just one step. Many of those that lost their homes are struggling to find affordable housing and others are stuck in unsafe units because landlords are refusing to make necessary repairs,” she told CALÒ News. “We hope to see local leaders build on this decision and take further action to make sure every tenant has a safe and stable place to live.”