Los Angeles Times Exposes Motives of Wealthy Landlords Funding Prop. 98 Campaign, Highlights Human Impact of Eliminating Rent Control

Today's Los Angeles Times article on Prop. 98 exposes the real motive of the landlords funding the ballot measure: to eliminate rent control and renter protections. As pointed out by The Times, eliminating rent control would impact more than 1 million California renters, including hundreds of thousands of retired seniors on fixed incomes, widows, single mothers, veterans and others who would face skyrocketing rents and could potentially lost their homes.

Excerpts from the story are below, and to read the entire article, click here:

“More than 100 owners and operators of apartment buildings and mobile home parks spent nearly $2 million to put an initiative on the June 3 ballot to phase out California's rent control laws.”

“About 1.2 million people statewide are covered by such laws. Los Angeles, which has 626,600 rent-controlled residential units, could be affected more than any other city if the measure passes.”

“Having toiled in machine shops during World War II and worked for decades in other manual jobs, 84-year-old Mary Kubancik felt entitled to live out her years in a pleasant mobile home park in Sylmar. Instead, the frail Kubancik is preparing to move out after 19 years. Her $919 monthly Social Security check won't cover her essentials and the $702 that her mobile home space will cost when the latest double-digit increase takes effect in April. ‘I worked since I was 14 years old, and this is all I have,’ she said, tears vying with anger in her eyes. ‘I had to sell. And this was supposed to be my golden years.’”

“Tenant-rights advocates say that if rent control is phased out, many poor and elderly people will have no place to live. ‘It would literally take the roofs off most tenants' heads who live in rent control jurisdictions,’ said Larry Gross, executive director of the Coalition for Economic Survival, a tenants' rights group in Los Angeles. ‘Los Angeles would be hit the worst,’ Gross said. ‘Landlords would resort to any action, legal or illegal, to get those tenants out.’”

"‘Homeowners want true eminent domain protections but will not be duped into enacting harmful and deceptive provisions that have nothing to do with eminent domain,’ said Ken Willis, president of the League of California Homeowners.”