STATEWIDE - On November 14, 2023, Liz Ruvalcaba was served with a summons and complaint notifying her that a lawsuit had been filed by her landlord to evict her from her home. It didn’t come as a shock.

One week earlier, Ruvalcaba had returned home to find her rent checks for September and October rolled up and wedged under her doorknob, still in the envelopes in which she had delivered them to her property manager. “You could see [the manager] had opened the envelopes and then just put the checks back inside,” Ruvalcaba told Jacobin. “Of course, I knew that if they’re refusing to accept the rent, they’re getting ready to do something. And sure enough, a week went by and I received the documents from the court.” The summons and complaint specified that she was being evicted for nonpayment of rent.

En marzo de 2021, la industria cinematográfica de Los Ángeles apenas comenzaba a recuperar la vida después de una prolongada caída inducida por el COVID, pero Michael Addis, un cineasta independiente, todavía estaba en lo más profundo del agujero. Durante más de un año había estado acumulando pagarés para su arrendador y la cuenta ascendía a 43,792 dólares.

Entonces Addis recurrió a un programa estatal de emergencia diseñado para ayudar a personas como él a pagar la deuda de alquiler acumulada durante la pandemia. 

Más tarde, en el verano de 2021, el propio gobernador Gavin Newsom promocionó el programa Housing Is Key como el más grande de su tipo en el país. “Estamos muy concentrados en hacer llegar esta asistencia lo más rápido posible “, dijo en ese momento.

Addis recibió respuesta 20 meses después de presentar su solicitud.  

El 5 de junio de 2023, cuando cumplió 61 años, recibió un correo electrónico, que compartió con CalMatters, notificándole que se había aprobado un pago en su totalidad. 

Pero para entonces ya era demasiado tarde.

In March 2021, the Los Angeles film industry was just beginning to roar back to life after a prolonged COVID-induced slump, but Michael Addis, a freelance filmmaker, was still deep in the hole. For more than a year he’d been racking up IOUs to his landlord and the tab stood at $43,792.

So Addis turned to an emergency state program designed to help people like him pay down rental debt accumulated during the pandemic. 

Later, in the summer of 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom himself had touted the program, Housing Is Key, as the largest of its kind in the nation. “We’re laser-focused on getting this assistance out the door as quickly as possible,” he said at the time.

Addis heard back 20 months after he applied.  

On June 5, 2023 — his 61st birthday — he received an email, which he shared with CalMatters, notifying him that a payment had been approved in full. 

But by then it was too late.

RICHMOND, CA - After residents of an affordable apartment community for seniors asked for help reducing a proposed rent increase, the Richmond City Council unanimously voted to send a letter asking the owners to not implement the increase.

Residents in the community of Heritage Park at Hilltop say the proposed 5% rent increase would put them at risk of being unable to afford other necessities and homelessness.

“We want the senior population at Heritage Park to be assured that their concerns are being taken seriously,” the letter, signed by Mayor Eduardo Martinez, says, “and that steps will be taken to not price out seniors who currently reside at Heritage Park.”

The rent increase, if it should go forward, would take effect Dec. 1.

LOS ANGELES, CA - Casi 20 personas se reunieron en los apartamentos Dorset Village y marcharon por todo el complejo de apartamentos y durante un descanso algunos residentes compartieron historias sobre sus difíciles condiciones de vida en una lluviosa tarde el miércoles en el vecindario de Hyde Park en Los Ángeles.

Julema Howard ha alquilado en su apartamento desde 2008 y dice que su alfombra no ha sido reemplazada a pesar de que está desgastada hasta el punto en que las puntadas quedan expuestas.

“Es realmente difícil explicar cómo vivimos aquí. Me siento como si estuviera viviendo en una celda de prisión”, dijo Howard mientras lágrimas caían por su rostro.

(Paywalled) LOS ANGELES, CA — The City Council is expected to vote Tuesday on a proposal meant to limit anticipated rent increases for properties that are subject to the city’s rent-control law.

The proposal was previously delayed during last week’s council meeting by Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez, who wanted more time for his colleagues to consider the idea. The proposal was prompted by the pending Jan. 31, 2024, end of a pandemic-era rent freeze placed on rent-stabilized units.

LOS ANGELES, CA - The Los Angeles City Council is expected to vote on Tuesday on a proposal meant to limit anticipated rent increases for properties that are subject to the city's rent-control law.

The proposal was previously delayed during last week's council meeting by Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez, who wanted more time for his colleagues to consider the idea. The proposal was prompted by the pending Jan. 31, 2024, end of a pandemic-era rent freeze placed on rent-stabilized units.

LOS ANGELES, CA — The City Council Tuesday is expected to vote on a proposal meant to limit anticipated rent increases for properties that are subject to the city's rent-control law.

The proposal was previously delayed during last week's council meeting by Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez, who wanted more time for his colleagues to consider the idea. The proposal was prompted by the pending Jan. 31, 2024, end of a pandemic-era rent freeze placed on rent-stabilized units.