Housing Is A Human Right supports California’s AB 246 to stop rent gouging after the L.A. wildfires. The state bill, authored by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, will protect thousands of current and prospective tenants against predatory landlords trying to make exorbitant profits off the most destructive wildfires in the history of California. The California Apartment Association, a front group for corporate landlords, opposes the legislation.
In early January, wildfires broke out across Los Angeles County, destroying more than 12,000 structures and killing more than 20 people. Thousands of people were left without a home. But predatory landlords have been cashing in on the disaster by rent gouging prospective tenants.
In addition, landlords have evicted current tenants so they can charge excessive rents for new tenants.
In response, Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, with support from numerous assembly members and state senators, authored AB 246, a bill that stops rent gouging in L.A. County.
AB 246 was recently passed by the Assembly Judiciary Committee and is now waiting for a vote by the full state assembly.
In late January, Housing Is A Human Right called on the California Apartment Association to urge its members to voluntarily enact rent freezes to end rent gouging in L.A. County. The CAA dismissed that call, and tried to spin the rent-gouging scandal as merely the actions of a few bad apples.
But multiple news reports and work done by an activist group called The Rent Brigade show that predatory landlords charging excessive rents and evicting current tenants to dramatically raise rents for new tenants have been widespread problems that impact people throughout L.A. County, not just areas devastated by the wildfires.
The California Apartment Association, which is bankrolled by many of the largest corporate landlords in the country, is now trying to pull strings behind the scenes to stop AB 246.
Numerous state politicians have signed onto the bill as co-authors, including Assemblymembers John Harabedian, Tina McKinnor, Sade Elhawary, Matt Haney, Mark Gonzalez, and Celeste Rodriguez and State Senators Sasha Renée Pérez, Ben Allen, and Lola Smallwood-Cuevas.
AB 246 is also backed by a broad coalition of activist groups and labor unions, including AFSCME Local 3299, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Southern California, California State Council of Service Employees International Union (SEIU California), California Teachers Association, Coalition for Economic Survival, Housing Is A Human Right, Keep L.A. Housing Coalition, and Tenants Together.
Such support is not surprising: Los Angeles County residents were already facing unfair, sky-high rents, and the rent-gouging scandal has made the housing affordability crisis worse.
Many of the same real estate lobbying organizations that successfully killed the attempt to expand rent control in California now oppose AB 246, purposely ignoring the rent-gouging scandal in L.A. County. They include the California Apartment Association, the California Association of Realtors, and the California Building Industry Association. All of those groups represent major, deep-pocketed players in the real estate industry.
Activists and labor unions are urging Californians to call their state assembly members and tell them to support AB 246. The well-being of thousands of L.A. County residents hang in the balance.
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