City Council Vote Allows Rent Increases Up To 6% Next Year (And Other Headlines)

Do you rent in LA? Big news for you: rent hikes of up to 6% will be allowed next year, after an LA City Council vote yesterday.

Los Angeles rent hikes in 2024

Since March 2020, most rent hikes have been banned in apartments covered by the city’s rent control law, which generally includes apartment buildings built before October 1978.

But come February, hikes of up to 4% will be allowed. After that, landlords will be allowed to increase another 2% if they cover tenants’ gas and electricity costs.

By then, L.A. will have banned rent hikes in most of the city’s apartments for just shy of four years, far longer than other parts of the country. If the council hadn’t taken action, tenants could have received rent increases of 7% to 9%.

My colleague David Wagner breaks the vote down for you.

And, in case you want some context: here’s more on L.A.’s history of rent control and tenant protections, brought to you by Caitlin Hernández.

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Wait! One more thing...

The dark side of 'momfluencers'

Defendant Katie Sorensen, left, listens to her defense attorney Charles Dresow during the first day of her trial in Sonoma County Superior Court in Santa Rosa on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.

(

Christopher Chung

/

The Press Democrat

)

Have you ever had a run-in with a “momfluencer”? What about a “Karen”? Maybe you’re at least familiar with that now-common jab, often used to describe entitled white women. (No shade to those of you actually named Karen.)

Meanwhile, mom influencers are the ladies you’ve probably seen advertising the latest parenting-related products on social media, leading their audience to click/purchase by creating a parasocial bond. It gives off the feeling that you really know this person, and therefore trust her recommendations.

My colleague Emily Guerin explores how “momfluencers” make money – and sometimes spread misinformation – in the fourth episode of Imperfect Paradise: People vs. Karen, a podcast by LAist Studios.

The series tells the story of a white woman and aspiring mom influencer, Katie Sorensen, who falsely claimed a Latino couple tried to kidnap her children in a parking lot. Today’s episode also looks at the prosecutor’s legal strategy: that Sorensen was an influencer who fabricated a sensational story to go viral.

Give it a listen, or read here.