On Feb. 25, the LA County Board of Supervisors 4-0 approved countywide emergency tenant protections for residents economically impacted by devastating wildfires in early 2025. It was ACCE tenant leaders who led the way in lobbying Supervisor Holly Mitchell for the crucial final vote for passage. ACCE secured support from the powerful LA Federation of Labor who then leaned on Supervisor Mitchell to vote our way. The protections will be in place until at least July 2025, giving fire-impacted residents the chance to rebuild their lives. 

Tenants in Los Angeles City can now effectively fight back against abusive landlords thanks to a stronger Tenant-Anti Harassment Ordinance (TAHO) taking effect in late December 2024. In one of ACCE Los Angeles' biggest victories, the City Council on Oct. 30, 2024, approved all of the major changes demanded by ACCE leaders and coalition partners Keep LA Housed and Movement Legal.

TAHO 2.0's amendments include:

• ensuring landlords are fined for each violation
• triple damages when landlords willfully engage in harassment
• requiring landlords to pay attorneys fees to tenants who win their case
• remedies for tenants, such as emotional damages

ACCE is currently working with coalition partners to ensure the improved TAHO is implemented, and to educate tenants about the law and how they can protect themselves from harassment.

Right to counsel is now a reality for tenants living in unincorporated LA County. As of January 1, 2025, LA County tenants facing eviction have access to free legal representation. The Board of Supervisors in July 2024 approved a Right to Counsel ordinance, making LA County the 24th jurisdiction to have a Right to Counsel. ACCE tenant leaders as part of the Right to Counsel coalition helped make this law a reality through public comments and lobbying efforts before the Board of Supervisors. Thanks to this work, LA County tenants are now able to defend themselves on an equal footing with landlords who try to unjustly throw them out of their homes!

Building on ACCE Los Angeles' successful campaign in July 2024 to protect South LA tenants displaced by new housing development, the same renter protections will now be expanded citywide. In December, the LA City Council adopted changes to the city's Resident Protection Ordinance (RPO) that will strengthen protections for all LA residents displaced by developers demolishing older apartment complexes to make way for new development. ACCE collaborated with partners at Movement Legal to draft the changes to the RPO based on the updated South LA Community Plan Implementation Overlay or CPIO. The protections include a right of return to newly developed units for displaced tenants, more generous relocation assistance, a five-year denial of demolition permits to landlords who have been found to harass tenants, and the right to sue landlords who violate tenants' rights. These new protections are a huge step toward curbing the rapid gentrification of historically low-income communities and communities of color.

ACCE members helped achieve a significant victory through their advocacy at Oakland City Hall, securing important amendments to strengthen tenant protections in the city's Rent Adjustment and Just Cause for Eviction Ordinances. The approved changes, effective December 17, 2024, include several key reforms that enhance accountability for property owners and expand tenant rights. Most notably, the legislation reduces the "banking" period for rent increases from ten to five years and prevents new property owners from using banked increases after property transfers (except in specific inheritance cases). The reforms also create stronger enforcement mechanisms by prohibiting both rent increases and no-fault evictions when property owners are delinquent on their business taxes, requiring proof of current business tax compliance with rent increase notices, and doubling the time tenants have to challenge unlawful rent increases from 90 to 180 days.

These changes represent a substantial win for tenant rights, establishing stronger oversight of property owners and limiting their ability to accumulate and implement delayed rent increases. The reforms particularly target the practice of "banking" rent increases and create new protections against evictions, while also ensuring better transparency through expanded notice requirements and language accessibility in multiple languages including English, Spanish, and Chinese.

RICHMOND, CA- On December 17th 2024, the Richmond City Council passed a pivotal ordinance to overhaul the city’s housing code enforcement system. After two years of relentless organizing and campaigning led by local residents and members of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and important legal support from California Center for Movement Legal Services (Movement Legal), the ordinance is set to transform how Richmond ensures safe and habitable housing for all tenants.

The newly adopted ordinance mandates routine inspections of all residential units every three years, eliminates the current flawed self-certification program for large buildings, and strengthens oversight of housing conditions citywide. These changes close longstanding gaps in Richmond’s current complaint-based system, which left tenants in unsafe housing and afraid to report violations due to fear of retaliation.

Richmond will now adopt an updated Code Enforcement Program that holds landlords accountable for deplorable living conditions and ensures no tenant is forced to live in uninhabitable housing.

In a process that was four years in the making, 11 programs created with the passage of Measure ULA's mansion tax are now moving on to full implementation! On Dec. 10, 2024, the LA City Council passed program guidelines in a 12-0 vote, inspired by the United to House LA coalition's vision of social housing, good union jobs, a tenant right to counsel, income support for low-income seniors, homeownership programs, and protections against tenant harassment. These programs will now be made possible with a total of $318 million in ULA dollars raised across two years. LA tenants are now another step forward toward gaining housing that is more secure, affordable and healthy!

The LA County Board of Supervisors voted to approve lowering annual rent increases from 4% to 3% on most rent-controlled units in unincorporated parts of the county. The change, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2025, exempts small landlords (those owning 10 or fewer units) as well as landlords of luxury units. This change to the rent cap will provide much needed relief for LA County tenants already struggling to pay for basic necessities. ACCE leaders are now working hard to bring the same relief to LA City renters.