Los Angeles Municipal Code Art. 22 Eviction and Rent Protections for Tenants Housing Persons or Pets…

JANUARY 2025 LOS ANGELES WILDFIRES

(Added by Ord. No. 188,486, Eff. 2/24/25.)

Section

The City Council finds and declares that the Palisades, Eaton, Hughes, Sunset, and Kenneth fires that broke out on or about January 7, 2025, in Los Angeles County (the Fires), have forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes, many of which were damaged or destroyed, and find shelter across Los Angeles. Some of these displaced persons and pets have been sheltered by tenants of rental properties that do not permit additional persons or pets under their rental agreement or lease. The eviction of tenants solely for providing shelter to displaced persons or pets places them and the displaced at increased risk of harm, including homelessness, and will increase the burden on an already strained residential rental market that is now being impacted by the thousands of people displaced by the Fires seeking rental housing. The impact on the residential rental market is expected to include rent increases and incidents of rental price gouging.

A. Definitions. The terms “Landlord”, “Tenant”, and “Residential real property” shall be defined as set forth in Section 165.02 of this Code. The term “Endeavor to Evict” shall be defined as set forth in Section 49.99.1 B. of this Code. The term “Pet” shall be defined as set forth in Section 51.21 of this Code.

B. Applicability. This article shall apply to all Residential real property in the City.

C. Protections.

1. No Landlord shall evict or endeavor to evict a Tenant from Residential real property based solely upon the presence of unauthorized Pets or persons in the Residential real property, including additional

occupants or guests who have stayed for a longer duration than permitted by the lease or rental agreement. The protections of this article shall only apply to a Tenant housing one or more unauthorized persons or Pets displaced from their place of residence by the Fires, whether due to a fire evacuation order, damage to or destruction of their place of residence, or other reasonable cause arising from or relating to the Fires provided that such reasonable cause can be substantiated by documentation showing the basis for displacement of the person(s) or Pet(s) by the Fires.

2. The permissible rent adjustment for additional occupants pursuant to Section 151.06 G.(a) of this Code shall not apply if the additional occupant(s) is a person displaced by the Fires.

D. Notice Requirement. The Tenant shall notify the owner in writing of the presence of any such persons or Pets displaced by the Fires within 30 days of the effective date of this ordinance. The notice shall include the following information as applicable: the full names and dates of birth of the displaced persons; the name(s), physical description, type of animal, and number of the displaced Pets; the property address of the residence that previously housed the displaced persons or Pets; whether the residence that previously housed the displaced persons or Pets was subject to an evacuation order, damage or destruction arising from the Fires; a description of the other reasonable cause arising from or related to the Fires that caused the identified persons or Pets to obtain shelter with the Tenant, in addition to documentation showing the basis for the displacement of the person(s) or pet(s) by the Fires. The Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) shall prepare a form for the purpose of providing the information required by this subsection. LAHD shall make the form available on its website for the Tenant’s optional use.

E. Remedies. A Tenant may use the protections afforded by this article as a defense in an action by a Landlord to recover possession of Residential real property, including an action to recover possession of Residential real property filed before the effective date of this ordinance. Any Landlord who fails to comply with this article shall be liable in a civil action to a Tenant for reasonable attorney’s fees and costs as determined by a court including a prevailing Tenant in an action to recover possession of Residential real property. Violations of this article shall be considered a misdemeanor.

F. Duration. The protections provided by this section shall expire one year from the effective date of this ordinance.