LOS ANGELES (CNS) – The City Council Tuesday approved an ordinance that will temporarily prohibit landlords from evicting tenants for having unauthorized occupants and pets who have been displaced by the multiple fires that erupted in January.
In a 14-0 vote, council members backed the ordinance that is expected to be in effect for one year — a measure that Councilwoman Traci Park sought to aid fire survivors.
Park, who represents the Pacific Palisades, introduced an emergency motion seeking such protections on Jan. 14, a week after the fires started on Jan. 7.
Councilman Curren Price recused himself, as he is a landlord.
The council also approved amendments to the ordinance that will pause rent increases solely for additional occupants in rent-stabilized units during that one-year period. Council members instructed the Housing Department to create a standardized form that tenants can use to notify their landlords of new occupants and pets.
According to Park, thousands of Angelenos left their homes in a matter of minutes to escape the Palisades Fire and the neighboring Eaton Fire in Altadena, forcing them to shelter across the city and the region.
“Acts of kindness and compassion should not be punished, and anyone who has opened up their home to provide shelter, peace and security should not have to worry about risking eviction for taking on additional pets or occupants,” Park said.
The councilwoman described the ordinance as a “targeted common sense measure” to keep impacted residents housed while they navigate the recovery process.
David Kaishchyan of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles argued against the measure, focusing on the issue of unauthorized pets.
“While we understand the intention behind promoting pet friendly housing, we believe the current proposal would create significant harm to existing renters and rental housing providers,” Kaishchyan said.
He warned that allowing unauthorized pets could force other tenants to relocate to pet-free housing for health reasons such as allergies or asthma, or other reasons. It could also lead to some housing providers losing their insurance, Kaishchyan added.
The council voted on the matter almost a week after shooting down a separate proposal from council members Hugo Soto-Martinez and Eunisses Hernandez, who called for a more widespread set of tenant protections for residents who lost their homes and livelihoods as a result of the fires.
The council voted 10-3 to send back the proposal back to committee for further discussion that also sought a one-year rent-hike moratorium for all apartments in the city through Jan. 31, 2026.
More than 100 people — a mix of landlords and renters — showed up to Council Chambers to share their thoughts on the contentious policy.
Kaishchyan had argued against the rent-hike freeze and eviction moratorium, arguing that it would create “mountains of unpaid back rent.”
Carlos Singer, chief of policy for the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce, said the proposal would discourage investors from developing in the city during a time when Los Angeles needs to draw on historic amounts of money to finance rebuilding efforts.
Tenant and housing advocate groups such as Strategic Actions for a Just Economy and ACCE, among others, supported the protections.
“Tenants were already struggling to pay rent, saddled with rent debt and one missed paycheck away from losing their homes,” said Christina Boyer, an attorney with Public Counsel and a member of Keep LA Housed. “The fires have only made this dire situation worse and people have a real risk of losing their houses.”
Meanwhile, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution on Jan. 21, similar to what Park has proposed, that enacted eviction protections for renters who opened their homes to people or pets displaced by the wildfires. It also promoted increased short-term rental availability.
Tenants in the unincorporated areas of the county are protected against eviction when hosting unauthorized occupants or pets displaced by the fires until May 31, 2026.
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