For Those Who Rent, Foreclosure Evictions Stalled

Remember this apartment in Palms? | Photo by mondolind via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr

With the foreclosure crisis happening, homeowners weren't the only ones finding themselves homeless. Renters were too. After all, someone owns those buildings and they can foreclose just as easily. But after a one-year moratorium placed on foreclosure-related evictions yesterday, it will be harder for banks to evict good tenants who pay rent on time.

"Banks don't want to be landlords or collect rent, they just want the tenants out," wrote Larry Gross of the Coalition for Economic Survival in an e-mail newsletter. "Yet, these banks had no problem begging Congress for a $700 billion bailout. A bailout paid for by these tenants and other taxpayers. In return, banks should not be evicting the people who are paying their corporate welfare."

The new ordinance, authored by Councilman Eric Garcetti, adjusts the city's rent control law to include all renters citywide when it comes to evictions solely based on change in ownership. The original law only protected residents in buildings built before 1978.

"The new law will clear the confusion for tenants as to their rights by setting one rule for all," Gross said. "It provides tenants a little bit of hope and justice."