Renters Groups to Press Council for Eviction Moratorium, Claim Tenants Being Evicted at ‘Staggering’ Rate

A broad coalition of tenant advocates plans to demonstrate at Pasadena City Hall on Monday evening before attending the Council meeting to press their demand that the City Council pass a moratorium on retaliatory evictions and 60-day notices until Assembly Bill 1482 becomes law.

The Pasadena Tenants Union and allied organizations said in a statement they have seen a jump in 60-day eviction notices since California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill. It goes into effect January 1, 2020.

“This surge in mass evictions, if unchecked, could amount to the potential displacement of thousands of working-class Californians,” said in the statement. “Political leaders in Pasadena and across the region must act to prevent this injustice.”

AB 1482 was designed to guard against the most “egregious” rent hikes, earlier this month.

When it takes effect, the law will enable the state to regulate how much Californians’ rent can increase every year, limiting it to five percent. The rules will be different for cities that already have rent control laws.
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But Pasadena Tenant Union members said ever since Gov. Newsom signed the new bill, landlords in Pasadena and across California have been evicting tenants at a “staggering” rate.

What is needed, the PTU said, is for the City Council to enact a local measure that will address the lack of tenant protections in Pasadena resulting in unconscionable rent increases, and will stop the City from allowing the eviction of tenants who are in full observance of their lease obligations.

“Los Angeles City recently passed such a measure – Pasadena must follow suit, to protect our community,” the PTU said in a statement. “The people of Pasadena will never have stable homes until we have protections from evictions without ‘just cause’ and a protection from arbitrary rent increases which become evictions in practice.”

The evictions, according to the PTJC, has resulted in extreme housing instability for many tenants. Low and moderate-income tenants of color have been especially hard hit by the city’s failure to control rents and its permission of arbitrary evictions, the coalition said.

Monday’s action by the PTU will be in time for the City Council’s public meeting at City Hall, which begins at 6:30 p.m.

For more information about the PTU and their campaign, visit www.pasadenatenantsunion.org.