Local group celebrates rental ordinance, but says more work needs to be done

A group of Burbank tenants and advocates are celebrating this week after the city council approved new protections ordinance.

Still, as KNX’s Nataly Tavidian reported, the Burbank Tenants Union is fighting for a lot more. They’ve been organizing for protections within their city for more than a year, and they said more protection is needed.

BTU told KNX the group was formed in December 2022 to lower rent increases and protect renters from evictions. Once the Los Angeles County COVID-19 pandemic eviction moratorium ended in April 2023, evictions began to increase.

According to BTU, many of these evictions were made possible by a “reno-viction” loophole that allowed landlords to evict entire buildings of renters if they planned to perform a substantial remodel of the units. By September 2023, an ordinance was passed that required landlords to provide information to the tenant and to provide relocation assistance equal to three months rent. At the state level, SB-567 implemented similar protections on certain types of no-fault evictions.

“Nonetheless, we have witnessed homelessness skyrocket in recent years, along with consistent 8%+ rent increases, as well as continued use of loopholes like renovictions and owner/family member move-ins to kick tenants out,” said the BTU in a statement provided to KNX. “Sometimes these evictions are legal, but often they are done illegally, without providing necessary permits, offering less than the minimum required relocation payment, and oftentimes only doing cosmetic work or family members not actually moving in.”

The measure passed this week covers many units but still leaves up to 30% of renters unprotected, said the group. However, it said that city staff will work on enhanced protections. More information is available here .