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There are now even fewer available apartments in the already tight Los Angeles rental market. The Census Bureau revealed yesterday that the rental vacancy rate for the metro L.A. area was at 2.7% in the final quarter of 2015, compared to 3.8% from the first quarter of 2015, KPCC reports. This is compared to a national average of 7%, and complicated by the fact that L.A. has more renters than any other metro area at 52%.
This, of course, doesn't mean good things for the already skyrocketing rents or the number of landlords who use the Ellis Act to kick out their rent-controlled tenants and turn the properties into hotels, condos, or Airbnbs. However, you can now see if a particular apartment is included in the rent stabilization ordinance—which protects renters from dramatic rent increases—online.
