LOS ANGELES, California - A coalition of housing and tenants rights advocates held a rally and bus tour to call attention to rising rent in the San Fernando Valley and beyond, and the need for a new rent cap for rent stabilized buildings across the city of Los Angeles.
The Keep LA Housed-FIX LA Reality Rally and Bus Tour on Aug. 22 began outside Van Nuys City Hall. The bus tour made stops outside apartment buildings in North Hills and Canoga Park, where rents are slated to be raised and some tenants are facing the possibility of ending up homeless because they won’t be able to pay the higher rates.
Jenny Colon, who has lived in the same North Hills apartment for nearly three decades, said her current rent will likely be doubled in the near future. If that happens, she would be forced to move out and try to find a new apartment she can afford, which she described as increasingly rare.
“He’s yelled at me [and] has had me followed. … He also left me without access to a working toilet for several days [and] when my apartment got flooded, he neglected that as well,” Colon told the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol. “There’s a lot of people that have dealt with [similar harassment] and have already been unjustly thrown out onto the streets, and we’re talking about very, very vulnerable communities.”