The Los Angeles City Council recently approved $15 million in funding meant to help tenants in Chinatown apartment buildings. Several tenants view the decision as a bailout for the landlord.
According to FOX 11, the multi-million dollar program was approved on Friday, April 19. For the next ten years, the city will provide subsidies for unities in a Chinatown apartment complex known as the Hillside Villa Apartments.
Hillside Villa was originally built as affordable housing in the 1980s but over the years tenants have seen massive spikes in rent, LAist reports. In 2019, the 30-year affordable housing covenant the building had received expired.
The new program would restore the covenant. The city would pay $15 million to the landlord to subsidize rents for some units.
“Throughout this process, my goal has always been to ensure that the tenants at Hillside Villa remain housed, and I believe this agreement is critical to achieving that goal,” Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez, who represents the First District, which includes Chinatown told FOX 11.
Several tenants have protested the deal. According to the LA Public Press, the deal does not ensure that tenants will be able to keep their homes and does not cancel out the debt tenants owe to the landlord, which totals over $1 million.
Councilwoman Hernandez has introduced a motion to help tenants cover their rent debt but the city’s initiative has been met with skepticism.
“I don’t really believe a hundred percent that they’re gonna try to find funds for us,” tenant Rosa Hernandez told the LA Public Press. “But we’re gonna always hold them accountable for it.”
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