There is a War on Tenants and a War on Rent Control, in South Central and across Los Angeles. This war is part of a larger crisis happening around the world. It is a War on the Poor, to displace us from our homes and the land.

In the South Central Local of the LA Tenants Union, we are organizing to defend our homes and our communities together as tenants and neighbors. We wrote this letter to the Mayor and City Council for them to listen directly to us as tenants and follow through on our demands.

We are gathering signatures in support of our letter and demands to Mayor Bass and City Hall. Join us to build people power and defend our neighborhoods and communities from the War on Tenants and Rent Control!

In South Central, the War on Tenants and Rent Control looks like this:

1. The war starts with harassment. Landlords threaten us, refuse our rent, pressure us with cash-for-keys, steal our parking, refuse to make repairs, add new charges, and raise the rent.

2. Demolitions cause stress, sickness, and social breakdown. While our neighbors become homeless, luxury housing all around us remains mostly empty. “Affordable” housing is a scam that working class communities can’t even afford.

3. The landlords’ last resort is the Ellis Act. The Ellis Act is a loophole that landlords abuse for mass evictions that destroy rent controlled housing. 

4. Homelessness is getting worse under Mayor Karen Bass. She claims she is solving the emergency of homelessness, but her policies are selling out rent controlled housing, leading to more evictions and more homelessness. 

5. The ‘28 Olympics are already causing mass displacement. Politicians lied when they promised that this time the Olympics would be different, and it’s us who is suffering the consequences.

We demand:

1. STOP SELLING OUT RENT CONTROL

   1. Close loopholes: Landlords are using Renovictions, capital improvement pass-throughs, RUBS, and extra charges to drive up the rents and push us out.

   2. Get rid of the Ellis Act: The government stopped Ellis Act evictions during the pandemic to save lives and needs to do so again.

   3. Stop the evictions on Flower Drive: Protect an entire block of rent-controlled homes in South Central where hundreds of tenants are facing eviction.

   4. End owner move-in evictions and all no-fault evictions: Landlords are abusing the law and families are being pushed into the streets through no fault of their own.

   5. Stop harassment and cash-for-keys: Landlords, managers, and developers are abusing our community and must be stopped.

2. NO MORE INVASIONS INTO OUR COMMUNITIES

   1. Cancel the Olympics: No one asked us if we wanted the Olympics in LA! The Olympics will bankrupt LA and bring displacement, gentrification, and police surveillance.

   2. Ban demolitions: Stop demolishing rent-controlled homes and neighborhoods.

   3. No more luxury housing: Our neighborhoods are being destroyed to build luxury buildings that sit empty.

   4. Don’t use students as an excuse for raising rents: Students have stood by the South Central community, but developers are using them to run cover for their crimes.

   5. Money for schools and services, not more policing: Our communities need safe homes not surveillance .

   6. We need parking, not ADUs and overcrowding: Landlords are charging us for parking we’ve already had, taking away the spaces we need, and overcrowding our neighborhoods.

3. STOP CORRUPTION AT CITY HALL

   1. LAHD: Where is the enforcement of tenant rights? Where are the investigations of abusive slumlords? Stop taking the side of landlords!

   2. City Council: Your policies are causing evictions, then punishing us when we have nowhere to go. Stop pushing us into the streets and criminalizing homelessness!

   3. Mayor Karen Bass: You’ve spent millions to create a revolving door of evictions. We need real solutions, not propaganda programs like Inside Safe!

   4. Treat us with Respect; Help Tenants or Get Out! City hall needs to stand up to landlords, developers, and the rich, not do their bidding.

4. DIGNIFIED HOMES FOR EVERYONE

   1. “Affordable” housing is a scam and is not affordable to South Central tenants: Protect the truly affordable rent-controlled housing we have, and expand public housing.

   2. Rent-a-room warehouses are not dignified housing: Tenants are being pushed from homes and apartments to renting rooms for thousands of dollars in overcrowded buildings.

   3. Tenants need repairs without displacement and maintenance without harassment: We refuse to suffer from mold and neglected repairs while landlords pocket our rent.

   4. Protect elders, children, people with disabilities, and our most vulnerable neighbors: Landlords are targeting long-time residents, retirees with fixed incomes, and vulnerable people.

   5. Housing under tenant control: Our homes are for living, not speculation. Redistribute homes to those who live there, and empty units to those in need.