On Friday, residents of an apartment complex in Los Angeles marched to Mayor Karen Bass’ home to request assistance with a significant rent increase following the expiration of the city’s COVID-related eviction ban.
According to KTLA-TV, advocates are claiming that the 124 families residing in Hillside Villa located in Chinatown, a majority of whom receive Section 8 subsidies, are confronting a 300% rent rise that is beyond their financial means.
“Those are essentially evictions,” Kris Chan, a community organizer told KTLA-TV. “Our tenants cannot afford that, and they’ll be pushed to the streets.”
“We don’t want to be homeless, and we want to stay there,” one tenant, Mary Ramos Monina, told KTLA. “We are not asking to (live) free as a tenant, but we want to pay what we can afford. That’s all we ask.”
The residents and their advocates are urging the city to buy the property to regulate the rent prices. However, in a statement released on Friday, the office of Mayor Bass said that they have limited options to address the situation, since the situation this time involved “a privately owned building that is not in the City’s control”.
Last May, according to Capital & Main, the City Hall Council voted in favor of attempting to acquire their 124-unit building from their landlord, which could possibly prevent tenants from experiencing rent hikes up to 300%.
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