{"id":2051557,"date":"2023-10-01T12:30:01","date_gmt":"2023-10-01T16:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/la-city-controller-reports-50000-unpaid-rent-notices-filed-between-february-and-august\/"},"modified":"2023-10-01T12:35:40","modified_gmt":"2023-10-01T16:35:40","slug":"la-city-controller-reports-50000-unpaid-rent-notices-filed-between-february-and-august","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/la-city-controller-reports-50000-unpaid-rent-notices-filed-between-february-and-august\/","title":{"rendered":"LA City Controller reports 50k unpaid rent notices filed Feb-Aug."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fla-city-controller-reports-50000-unpaid-rent-notices-filed-between-february-and-august%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2051557&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><blockquote>\n<h2>Nearly 50,000 Eviction Notices Filed in\u2063 Los Angeles: Data \u2064Transparency\u2063 Tool\u200b Reveals \u200bAlarming Numbers<\/h2>\n<p>According \u200cto City Controller Kenneth\u200c Mejia, the chief accounting\u2063 officer for the city, a staggering 50,000 eviction notices were filed in \u200cLos Angeles between February \u2063and August. \u200cThis shocking \u2064revelation\u2064 was made possible through a new data transparency tool launched by Mejia&#8217;s office, providing the public with access to crucial \u200dinformation.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">The\u200d data transparency tool, available <a href=\"https:\/\/evictions.lacontroller.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>,\u200d sheds light on the alarming\u2063 situation. \u200dMejia took to social media on September 25 to share that the majority of these \u200dnotices were \u200brelated to non-rental payments, with 91 \u200bpercent being 3-day notices, which mark the initial step in\u2064 the eviction process\u200d for landlords.<\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Related Stories<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/californians-struggling-with-high-rent-prices-end-of-eviction-moratoriums-5431004?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\"><strong>Californians Struggling With High Rent \u200dPrices, End of Eviction Moratoriums<\/strong><\/a>  &#8211; Published\u200b on 7\/28\/2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/apartment-owners-sue-los-angeles-over-covid-era-rental-price-restrictions-5420501?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\"><strong>Apartment \u2062Owners Sue Los Angeles Over COVID-Era Rental Price Restrictions<\/strong><\/a>  \u2062- Published \u2063on 7\/24\/2023<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The data tool also reveals that the total amount of unpaid rent during\u200b this period reached a staggering $186.5 million. In \u2062Los Angeles, eviction notices \u200dcan be\u2063 issued for various reasons, including missed rent\u200d payments, \u200cviolation of rental agreements, property damage, or engagement\u2062 in illegal\u2063 activities, as stated by \u2063the county&#8217;s Consumer and Business Affairs Department.<\/p>\n<p>If tenants fail to pay or vacate the premises within the 3-day period,\u2064 landlords have the right to file an unlawful detainer in\u200c court, seeking eviction, according to the department.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode post-related-videos\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">The top three zip \u200dcodes with the highest number of \u200ceviction \u2062notices \u2064filed are\u2064 Hollywood with 3,500 notices, Fairfax with 2,500 notices, and Woodland Hills with\u2063 2,100 notices, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/controller.lacity.gov\/landings\/evictions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the data<\/a> tool.<\/div>\n<p>Interestingly, out of the filed\u200c notices, Mejia highlighted\u200d in his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-this-average-american-is-voting-for-donald-trump\/\" title=\"Why This Average American Is Voting for Donald Trump\">social media post<\/a> that \u200b6,000 were for amounts\u2062 below the city&#8217;s &#8220;Fair Market Rent Limit,&#8221; which\u2063 disqualifies \u2063them for eviction.<\/p>\n<p>A city ordinance\u2063 enacted in January \u2064by the Los Angeles City Council prevents\u2064 landlords\u2063 from evicting tenants if \u200dthe amount owed is below\u200c one month&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-school-district-seeks-out-parents-willing-to-rent-out-rooms-to-teachers\/\" title=\"California School District Seeks Out Parents Willing To Rent Out Rooms To Teachers\">fair market rent<\/a>,\u200d as explained by \u2062Mejia. \u200cCurrently, \u200dthe threshold \u200bstands at $1,500 for a \u2062studio, $1,750 for a one-bedroom, $2,225 for a two-bedroom,\u200b and $2,900 for \u200ca three-bedroom, according to the \u200ccity controller.<\/p>\n<p>Recognizing the \u2063dire situation, city officials recently \u200cintroduced the Emergency Renters Assistance\u200c Program. This program \u2064offers forgiveness\u200b for six months \u2064of unpaid rent,\u200d covered \u2063by city subsidies, to eligible individuals and \u200cfamilies earning \u2063at or below 80 percent of\u200d the median \u2062income. For instance, \u2062a family \u200dof three \u2064qualifies if\u2063 their combined income is less than $91,000.<\/p>\n<p>Funding for \u200cthe $18.4 million program comes from\u200c Measure ULA, commonly known\u200d as the &#8220;mansion \u200btax,&#8221; which imposes a \u20634 \u2062percent sales tax on properties over $5 \u200dmillion and\u2063 5.5 percent on those exceeding \u200d$10 \u2063million.<\/p>\n<p>According \u200cto the city controller&#8217;s data \u2063tool, the highest \u2064amount of unpaid \u200brent \u200dis associated with units in the Sterling Wilshire \u2062apartment building located in the Wilshire Corridor in Westwood. Monthly prices for these units range\u2063 from $4,000 to $8,000.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, one tenant in the \u200cbuilding owes a staggering $227,000\u2063 in rent, while another\u200c has accumulated $90,000 in \u2064unpaid rent.<\/p>\n<p>Due to \u2063the COVID-19 \u200bpandemic, Los Angeles implemented\u200b protections for\u200b tenants who were unable to pay \u200crent, effectively preventing evictions under a county-wide\u200c moratorium.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">However, these protections for unpaid rent between March 2020 and September 2020 ended on\u2063 August 1. For unpaid rent\u200b accrued between October 2021 and January 2022, tenants \u200dhave until February 2024 to settle their dues, according to\u2064 city officials.\u200c <\/div>\n<h2>Number of Such Notices &#8216;Highly\u200b Inflated&#8217;: Apartment Association<\/h2>\n<p>Some landlords in \u2062Los Angeles argue that the housing department&#8217;s definition of 3-day notices, \u200dor\u200c eviction notices, is misleading. According \u200dto Dan Yukelson, executive director of \u200dthe Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, these notices are\u2063 merely warnings and often\u2062 do not result \u2064in \u200devictions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They&#8217;re called 3-day notices to pay \u2064or quit. It&#8217;s just\u200b like\u2062 someone paying their \u200bcar \u2062payment late or forgetting to pay their credit card \u2063bill,&#8221; Yukelson explained. He further added that \u200bin \u200cmost \u200bcases, tenants promptly \u2063pay their rent or establish a payment plan \u2062with their housing\u200b provider.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In a lot\u2062 of cases, these\u2062 notices are \u200ccorrected, \u2062and people have actually gone and paid their rent after \u2063receiving. That&#8217;s why the number of\u200d these notices is\u200b highly\u200b inflated,&#8221; he emphasized.<\/p>\n<p>Yukelson also highlighted that some tenants receive a notice every month due to habitual late payments, while \u200clandlords may send \u2063multiple \u2064notices due to errors in filling\u200d out the notice form. For \u200cexample, the city of Los Angeles \u200bnow requires landlords to\u200c include the number of bedrooms in the unit \u200dwhen providing a\u2062 three-day notice, leading to potential duplication.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for Mejia&#8217;s office confirmed that duplicate entries\u200c can be found \u2062in the data when multiple notices are sent out. \u200cThe online\u2064 tool also displays duplicate notices \u2063for the same address.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-figure\">\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>An apartment building in Los Angeles on Oct. 20, \u200d2021. (John Fredricks\/The Epoch\u200d Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Yukelson further explained that in reality, \u2062landlords often \u200dprefer to reach \u200can agreement \u200bwith tenants and waive\u200d some rent to expedite the re-rental process.<\/p>\n<p>He stated \u2064that a proper eviction process can take \u2062six to eight\u200b months and cost between \u2064$10,000 \u2064and $50,000 in\u2064 legal fees, making it an undesirable\u2062 option for property owners.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Depending on how highly-contested the evictions are, hiring\u2063 private\u200c attorneys will make that even worse and cost even more in \u200clegal fees. And\u200d then on\u200b top \u200dof that, you&#8217;re\u2064 generally not collecting rent \u2062the\u200c entire time you&#8217;re seeking an eviction, so owners\u200c are \u2062way out of pocket. It&#8217;s very time-consuming, and so they \u200bjust don&#8217;t want to go \u200dthrough the process,&#8221; Yukelson elaborated.<\/p>\n<p>Another factor contributing to the increase in \u2063eviction notices,\u2064 according to Yukelson, is\u2062 tenants intentionally underpaying their rent. As long as they do\u2064 not exceed\u200b the \u2062fair market rental limit, eviction\u2062 attempts are futile.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What a lot of tenants have been\u2062 doing more and more is they&#8217;ve been short paying their \u2062rent because they don&#8217;t think the owners can do anything about it&#8230; owners are \u200bunder no obligation to accept less than the full rent, \u2063so \u2064owners have been\u200d returning the money and handing out a three-day notice. And so that&#8217;s another reason for a lot of these three-day notices,&#8221; \u2063he \u200crevealed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What concerns does \u200bthe Apartment Association \u200dof Greater Los \u2062Angeles\u200d have regarding the data presented by the city controller&#8217;s\u200c tool?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Example, if a tenant pays their rent one day late, the landlord \u200bmay still send\u200c a 3-day notice\u2062 as a way\u200d to remind the tenant of their payment obligations.<\/p>\n<p>The Apartment\u200d Association of Greater Los\u2063 Angeles believes that \u2064the data \u2064presented by the city\u200c controller&#8217;s tool does not accurately \u200breflect the number of actual evictions\u200d taking place. They argue \u200dthat these numbers may be misleading and create unnecessary \u200cpanic among tenants.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">In response to these concerns,\u200c City Controller Mejia\u2063 stated that\u200c the\u2062 purpose of the data transparency tool is not to instigate fear, but rather to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/psaki-were-not-always-best-on-messaging-to-everyone-on-vaccines-for-conservatives-we-contacted-nascar\/\" title=\"Psaki: We\u2019re Not Always Best On Messaging To Everyone On Vaccines, For Conservatives We Contacted NASCAR\">provide accurate information<\/a> \u2064to \u2064the public. Mejia acknowledged that not all\u2063 eviction notices result in actual evictions, but emphasized the importance of understanding the scale of the \u2062issue and the potential impact on tenants.<\/div>\n<h2>Addressing the Crisis: Increased Support \u2062for\u200d Tenants<\/h2>\n<p>The evictions crisis in Los\u200d Angeles calls\u200c for immediate action to support\u2063 struggling tenants. Recognizing the urgency of the situation, \u2063city officials have taken steps to provide assistance to those in need.<\/p>\n<p>Alongside the Emergency\u2062 Renters Assistance Program, \u200cthe city is implementing \u200cvarious measures \u2063to alleviate the\u2064 financial burden on tenants. These include rent subsidies, legal aid, and mediation services for tenants facing eviction. \u200dThe goal is to prevent unnecessary displacement and help <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/la-city-controller-reports-50000-unpaid-rent-notices-filed-between-february-and-august\/\" title=\"LA City Controller reports 50k unpaid rent notices filed Feb-Aug.\">tenants\u200d overcome financial difficulties caused<\/a> by the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, state and federal governments \u200bare exploring options<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Between February and August, nearly 50,000 eviction notices were filed in Los Angeles, as revealed by City Controller Kenneth Mejia. This data was made accessible through a new transparency tool. Mejia stated on social media that most notices were unrelated to rental properties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1349,"featured_media":2051558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2051557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1349"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2051557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2051557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2051558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2051557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2051557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2051557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}