On Tuesday, April 2, 2019, Long Beach City Council voted to create an ordinance that will require landlords to provide financial assistance to those displaced by rent increases and some evictions.
The new ordinance would consider rental assistance for tenants who were asked to pay a rent increase by more than 10 percent during a 12-month period. Also would consider a rental assistance in case a landlord requires a tenant to vacate a unit when there was no violation of state law, including failure to pay rent, violation of lease of the lease agreement or using the premises for unlawful purposes or when tenants are displaced by remodeling.
The new ordinance would require landlords to pay displaced tenants two months rent, at average fair market rental rates. That amount could be anywhere from $2,706 for a studio apartment to $4,500 for a three-bedroom unit or higher.
The city will also create a fund that will protect seniors and low-income tenants with vouchers and preserving housing covenants and requiring an additional $2,000 in assistance be paid to displaced seniors and residents with disabilities.
It is expected that Mom and Pop landlords who own a single four-unit building or who use their rental property as their primary residence or need to vacate a unit for an immediate family member. This means that major changes will only be applied to buildings with four or more units, the threshold for which the city requires a business permit and at which the federal government considers a building multi-family housing.
Long Beach renters are experiencing several problems due the 3.8% vacancy rate in the city, meaning there is no enough homes for rent.
Source: Long Beach Leaders agree to require assistance for some evictions, rent hikes
https://lbpost.com/news/renters-housing-evictions-assistance/