Wake up, wake up, wake up, it’s the first of the month. And you know what that means: it’s time to dig in your little piggy bank and pay to live another month in that $2,000-plus apartment that’s been keeping you warm. It’s a good thing the gas bill could be going down this month. But while we’re on the subject of rent, let’s chat about the status of COVID-era eviction protections.
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Just last week, I told you that the L.A. County Board of Supervisors extended these protections for two more months. My colleague, David Wagner, who covers housing for us, talked to How To LA Podcast Host Brian De Los Santos to answer some of your questions about these constant extensions and general confusion around these protections and restrictions. David wrote a guide on everything renters need to know, but here’s some more confusion to add to the mix:
Since the beginning of the pandemic, L.A. County put protections in place to allow renters to keep pets, even if not approved under their lease. But now, according to the latest reporting from David, even with these ongoing safeguards, some landlords are telling tenants to get rid of their unauthorized pets…or move out.
From the landlord’s perspective, most argue that a tenant shouldn’t be surprised when asked to eventually remove an animal from a property if a lease does not allow for one.
“People need to understand that the rental operator is trying to manage the building for everybody, and should be prepared to adhere to the rules that the community had in place when they entered the building,” said Fred Sutton, a spokesperson for the California Apartment Assn.
But under current rules, these animals should be allowed to stay.
David told me that one thing he was surprised to find out as he was reporting on this story is that local animal shelters are already seeing an uptick in people surrendering their pets to these shelters due to a loss of housing. There is a concern that more animals will be turned into shelters once the eviction protections do finally go away. For now they are in place until the end of March.
Read more of David’s story here.
As always, try to stay happy and healthy, folks. There’s more news below — just keep reading.
(After you stop hitting snooze)
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Last week, we talked about Frank Malina, an aeronautical engineer and co-founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who left the U.S. as anti-communist rhetoric started to stir and became a refugee and artist in France. That was a wild ride with the FBI hot on his trail, wasn’t it? Well, let’s hop in the coupe to explore more about Malina’s new life and his involvement with the fledgling United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO.
The FBI was still out there and Malina’s colleagues, like Sidney Weinbaum and his family, couldn’t escape to Paris. They were stuck in Pasadena and having a hard time dodging the heat of the Red Scare and McCarthyism. Things were getting bleak.
Intrigued about Frank and his colleague found themselves in this situation? Read about what you can expect from the second episode of the Red Scare trilogy of the LAist Studios podcast LA Made: Blood, Sweat & Rockets and then listen to the podcast episodes here. Or listen in the players below:
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