Renters vs. owners

Landlords have struggled to collect thousands — or millions — of dollars of rental debt. Tenant protections and regulations limit garnishing wages, said Daniel Yukelson, executive director of the Apartments Association of Greater Los Angeles.

“Over 80% of landlords in California are independent owners,” he said. “They got crucified the last three years at the hands of the government. The government continues to use landlords as a scapegoat for the unhoused we see on our city sidewalks every day, because they haven't come up with solutions to that problem.”

Several mom-and-pop landlords said privately that they would prefer to compromise with tenants rather than evict them. But going so long without rental income puts a strain on their finances. Some added that government rental assistance didn't go far enough to pay the bills.

Tenant advocates countered that lobbying by landlord associations and campaign donations from the real estate industry make it difficult to pass tenantfriendly legislation, such as a law establishing a legal right to counsel for tenants in court.

In L.A., organizers have made progress with the city council. Recently a motion to explore establishing a right to legal counsel in eviction proceedings passed in the City Council's housing and homelessness committee.

The challenge will be finding funding sources, said Pablo Estupiñan, who directs Strategic Actions for a Just Economy's counsel campaign.

Housing advocates want a recently approved onetime transfer tax to help pay for eviction representation, he said. That tax will be tacked onto real estate sales. It also would pay for affordable housing and renters' education and outreach.

for Community Empowerment Institute is prioritizing Durazo's placeholder Senate Bill 567, Livingston said.

The bill, when it is complete, would expand the California Tenant Protection Act of 2019 by further limiting rent increases, closing some loopholes that allow for abuse of eviction rules, and improving enforcement of housing rights, Durazo said.

“The government response to addressing this crisis has been focused primarily on rehousing people after they lose their housing, and this is important,” Durazo said, “but it needs to be together with an effort to prevent people from becoming houseless.”

But the existing tenant protections in Los Angeles and proposed changes to state law won't erase the millions of dollars that atrisk renters already owe landlords. L.A. tenant advocates are looking into alternatives, such as creating a mom-and-pop landlord fund, for instance.

But progress is slow and any funds potentially available aren't enough to cover all of L.A.'s rental debt, they said.

Faizah Malik, an attorney with Pubic Counsel, has concerns about any proposed rental relief programs moving forward.

“We do have a ticking clock on rental debt and evictions for that debt in the city of L.A.,” Malik said. “We have a lot of concerns about how rental assistance programs are being set up. The most efficient way to handle the rent debt would be to cancel it. That is the ultimate demand of the tenant movement.”

That remedy could change Cervantes' life, enabling her to stay in her home.

“The home is the base of life for every human,” she said. “Here we can laugh, we can rest, we can cry. Having a home is a right, it's not an option.”