• 0
  • Home
  • About Us
  • What We Do

Shopping Cart

GPAM
  • Home
  • About Us
  • What We Do

“Owners are very scared:” Tensions boil to the surface in California rent strike call

UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl
UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl

A national rent strike Zoom call organized Thursday featured the usual suspects – tenants rights advocates and renters sharing their stories of economic hardship.

But the call also featured a few eyebrow-raising cameos, including Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of the 35,000-member United Teachers of Los Angeles, the leader of last year’s Los Angeles County teacher’s strike.

“We support this rent strike, and the tens of thousands of people in California involved in it,” Caputo-Pearl said on the call.

The prominent union leader’s presence is perhaps the strongest sign yet that rent strikes in L.A. County and all of California have moved from the political fringe to a viable option for a growing number of tenants. That’s a deeply upsetting development for residential landlords who feel they are disproportionately targeted amid the Covid-19 economic calamity.

“Owners are very scared about meeting their financial obligations right now,” said Daniel Yukelson, executive director of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, a trade group for landlords. “Just because they own their property doesn’t mean that they aren’t living month to month.”

Added Yukelson, “There is a big rift between owners and their residents right now.”

That rift was on display during the rent strike call where California tenants indicated that unprecedented coronavirus-related measures – including a statewide suspension of eviction proceedings, and L.A. County prohibition of evictions – do not go far enough.

“A moratorium is not enough. That’s kicking the can down the road. A freeze on rent is not enough. We need rent forgiven, we need it gone,” said Vanessa Bulnes, an Oakland resident who lost her job as a childhood educator at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

Bulnes is one of about 12,000 rent strikers working directly with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment. According to the organization, only about 20 of the tenants they worked with in April opted to not pay rent.

California Residential landlords saw a 10-12 percent decline in April rent. That figure could climb to a 20 percent decline in May compared to pre-pandemic rental income, said Thomas Bannon, president of the California Apartment Association.

Bannon said landlords with less than a dozen rental units are experiencing “high anxiety.”

“What about the landlord with five units, and tenants in two of the units decide to go on a rent strike?” Bannon said.

For landlords facing such a situation, “There’s not a lot you can do right now,” according Karl Lotts, an attorney at Holland & Knight.

While the Judicial Council suspended eviction proceedings, there’s nothing preventing a landlord from getting the process started by sending an eviction notice, Lotts said.

The attorney advises clients to make sure, “you don’t write an overly harsh notice that can be sent to the press.”

But staying polite amid a historic economic disaster is hard.

Asked whether federal stimulus money could help tenants pay May rent, Yukelson responded, “They are probably spending their stimulus money on legalized marijuana instead of a rent check.”

Georgia Kromrei contributed reporting

The post “Owners are very scared:” Tensions boil to the surface in California rent strike call appeared first on The Real Deal Los Angeles.

Powered by WPeMatico

  • 30 April 2020
  • The Real Deal
  • Uncategorized
  •  Like
Paramount Group plans virtual showings to fill huge Barclays space →← “The day of reckoning is coming” warns Miami condo market expert Peter Zalewski
  • Recent Posts

    • LA County greenlights self-certification for Altadena rebuilding May 8, 2025
    • Irvine Company aims to transform golf course into village of 3K homes May 8, 2025
    • Former LA police commissioner, prominent attorney to list Bel-Air estate for $24M May 8, 2025
    • Movers: Gambino Group nabs LA, NY agents May 8, 2025
    • Sacramento investor lists 270K sf DTLA office park leasehold May 8, 2025
  • Recent Comments

    • Archives

      • May 2025
      • April 2025
      • March 2025
      • February 2025
      • January 2025
      • December 2024
      • November 2024
      • October 2024
      • September 2024
      • August 2024
      • July 2024
      • June 2024
      • May 2024
      • April 2024
      • March 2024
      • February 2024
      • January 2024
      • December 2023
      • February 2023
      • January 2023
      • December 2022
      • November 2022
      • October 2022
      • September 2022
      • August 2022
      • July 2022
      • June 2022
      • May 2022
      • April 2022
      • March 2022
      • February 2022
      • January 2022
      • December 2021
      • November 2021
      • October 2021
      • September 2021
      • August 2021
      • July 2021
      • June 2021
      • May 2021
      • April 2021
      • March 2021
      • February 2021
      • January 2021
      • December 2020
      • November 2020
      • October 2020
      • September 2020
      • August 2020
      • July 2020
      • June 2020
      • May 2020
      • April 2020
      • March 2020
      • February 2020
      • January 2020
      • December 2019
      • November 2019
      • October 2019
      • September 2019
      • August 2019
      • July 2019
      • June 2019
      • May 2019
      • April 2019
      • March 2019
      • February 2019
      • January 2019
      • December 2018
      • November 2018
      • October 2018
      • September 2018
      • August 2018
      • July 2018
      • June 2018
      • May 2018
      • April 2018
      • March 2018
      • February 2018
      • January 2018
      • December 2017
    • Global Property and Asset Mangement, Inc.
      137 North Larchmont
      Los Angeles, California 90010
      +1 213-427-1127

    © 2025 GPAM