the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Nov 11, 2019
Last October, the Los Angeles City Council approved an emergency ban on unjust, no-fault evictions. They did this to stop landlords from evicting tenants before the rent cap law becomes effective on January 1, 2020. After this law becomes effective, the landlords can only evict their tenants with just cause.
The landlords have been jacking up the rents, in some cases by 25% or even 50%, according to one Los Angeles City Council member. Under the rules of the rent cap law, annual rent increases for tenants in buildings older than 15 years will be capped at 5% plus inflation. So, before this rule becomes effective at the beginning of next year, the landlords are preemptively increasing their rents at skyrocketing rates.
In addition, the landlords have been serving up eviction notices to their renters like hot cakes. Many renters who have been living in their apartments for years were suddenly forced to leave their homes so that the landlords could freely increase their rents.
In this capitalist economy, the landlords can and will stiff their renters one way or another, reducing these laws and bans to politicians’ pranks played on the working class.