By Pablo Estupiñan, Director, Anti-Eviction
January 9, 2025
As fires continue to rage across Los Angeles County, the LA County Board of Supervisors and all affected cities should enact an emergency eviction moratorium to prevent the further displacement of thousands of Angelenos.
These fires have wrought tragic devastation, including the loss of lives, homes, communities, businesses, and jobs. They are also having short and long-term health effects via air and water pollution from smoke and ash. It will take time to rebuild and recover. But we must prioritize a just recovery—one that centers the health and wellbeing of our most vulnerable communities.
The good thing is, we have tools at our disposal we know work. In 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, renter protections were mandated to prevent evictions, displacement, and homelessness in the wake of job losses, illness, and a nationwide recession. As a result, the number of unhoused people in the county grew by just 4.1% between 2020 and 2022. (That number was expected to be much higher; from 2018 to 2020, for example, homelessness grew by around 25%.) But when protections expired in 2023, evictions began to rise, and the number of unhoused residents jumped by 9%. Meanwhile, our eviction crisis has continued: in 2024, almost 80,000 notices of intent to evict were filed in Los Angeles, the majority of which were for nonpayment of rent, and many renters are still carrying rent debt from the pandemic.
On January 8, 2025, in response to the nearby Palisades Fire, the City of Santa Monica issued an emergency order to restrict the eviction of tenants to provide shelter to those displaced by evacuation orders, including their pets. L.A. City, County, and other local jurisdictions should follow suit to ensure protections for all who are being impacted by these devastating fires, including restricting evictions due to rent debt driven by business closures, job losses, and illness.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, limiting evictions prevented people from losing their homes. At a time when so many have lost so much, our elected officials should do everything they can not to make these losses worse.
