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LA ranks its top 'problem' properties based on complaints. Did your building make the list?
Barrington Plaza after a fire on Jan. 29, 2020.
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Frederic J. Brown
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Getty Images
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Topline:
The Los Angeles city controller has published a searchable database highlighting the city’s “top 100 problem rental properties,” ranked by the number of housing violation complaints they’ve received since 2014. That means tenants have complained landlords at these buildings have illegally increased rent, evicted renters, harassed tenants or cut services.
Who made the list?: The top of the list includes some buildings where tenants have mounted significant organizing campaigns against evictions and rent increases:
- Hillside Villa in Chinatown, where renters went on strike, earned the top spot with 192 housing violation cases.
- Barrington Plaza in Sawtelle, where a judge ruled the landlord couldn't use the Ellis Act to evict more than 100 remaining tenants, came in second. It had 166 housing violation cases, according to the City Controller’s Office.
- Toluca Hills Apartments by Avalon, a 1,150-unit apartment complex in the Hollywood Hills, with 113 housing violation cases.
Search your address: The full searchable dataset includes all cases of illegal evictions, illegal rent increases, harassment and more. It includes more than 115,000 violations citywide and was compiled based on Los Angeles Housing Department data from December 2013 through November 2025.
It also notes building code citation violations and recent ownership history. L.A. renters can use the database to search for reported housing violations at their own address.
Why now?: City Controller Kenneth Mejia said until now, it’s been difficult for the public to search for housing violation history by address. He said few tenant complaints of harassment and illegal eviction result in real enforcement. For example, out of more than 23,000 tenant harassment complaints submitted to the city, only one landlord has faced criminal charges, according to the Controller's Office.
Mejia said he hopes the new database “will help renters and organizers document patterns of harm, as well as put pressure on both landlords and the city to act.”
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