L.A. Landlords Ask Court to End Rent Freeze as Back Rent Comes Due

A landlord group in Los Angeles is taking the city to court to try to force an end to a pandemic-era rent freeze that still is in effect for the city’s rent-stabilized units.

The rent freeze, which prevents rent increases on nearly three-quarters of the apartments in the city, went into effect in the early days of the pandemic and has yet to be lifted—when Los Angeles ended its COVID emergency, it began a “countdown” to end related programs like the rent freeze, according to a report In the Los Angeles Times.

Without the freeze, rents could go up annually by as much as 8%, based on the CPI. However, even with the freeze renters are facing a reckoning of sorts: thousands who got a reprieve from paying any rent at all during the pandemic are scrambling to pay their back rent.

They’re scrambling because the back rent is due today.

Mayor Karen Bass has stepped in to propose that funds from Measure ULA—the new transfer tax on sales of properties over $5M—be deployed to fund rental assistance programs, including short-term emergency assistance programs and tenant outreach.

The mayor, who has declared an affordable housing and homelessness emergency in Los Angeles, aims to prevent more people from being forced out onto the street by housing costs.

“We will continue to lock arms with our partners to solve this crisis so that everyone in Los Angeles has a safe place to sleep at night and that no one is sleeping on the streets,” Bass said at a news conference on Monday.

The Mayor’s Office said Bass’ emergency funding proposal will come before the City Council on Wednesday. Outreach teams set up by the city have connected with more than 40,000 tenants.

The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles (AAGLA) filed a complaint this week in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking to void the rent freeze, which covers an estimated 650,000 rent-stabilized units in the city.

“No other type of business or entity, not food suppliers, medical professionals, nor the government itself, have been burdened by what will ultimately be a four-year mandated ‘freeze’ on income from which housing providers will never be about to make up,” AAGLA Board of Directors President Cheryl Turner said, in a statement.

The association is asking the court to order an immediate end to the rent freeze, which is scheduled to expire in February 2024.

According to Daniel Yukelson, executive director of AAGLA, the group also is asking the court to declare the rent freeze to be a violation of the state constitution, which would enable landlords to claim damages estimated by the group to total $2.6B in “lost rent increases.”

Under state law, back rent accrued between March 1, 2020 and Sept. 30, 2021 must be repaid by Aug. 1. Back rent accrued between Oct. 1, 2021 and Feb. 1, 2023 must be repaid by Feb. 1, 2024.