AIRBNB LANDLORDS EVICTING RENTERS - STEVE HILL EXPOSES THE RENTER VICTIMS - LA CITY PROPOSES REGULATION

PROSPECT.ORG - EVICTIONS CONVERSIONS - DARK SIDE OF AIRBNB  full article by Steve Hill

EXCERPT:
But in touristy cities with housing shortages and hot real-estate markets—New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and many more—Airbnb plays a less savory role. Not only does Airbnb facilitate illegal conversions of entire buildings from tenant apartments to de facto hotels, it has also become part of the landlord lobby that resists enforcement of local laws prohibiting such abuses. To be sure, places like San Francisco would suffer the effects of conversions even without Airbnb, but the evidence shows that Airbnb supercharges the process.

Take the case of Chris Butler, who was evicted from his rent-controlled apartment on the grounds that the owner’s husband needed to move in (a legally acceptable reason for evicting a tenant, called “owner-occupied move-in”). Yet the husband never moved in, and instead the owner listed that unit as well as another on Airbnb for $145 a night, considerably more than the $60 a night the tenant paid. So the tenant sued the landlord for unjust eviction. “They forced me out of a home I loved,” says Butler. “It was incredibly difficult to find a place, especially because I have a really old dog. I ended up paying over double what I was paying there.”

In another lawsuit, tenant Susan Whetzel claims that she was illegally evicted from her rent-controlled apartment, which was then rented out via Airbnb. The owner claimed that he was converting his three-unit building into condominiums, but the building was never converted. Whetzel claims she was harassed by the owners until she finally moved out, and then discovered her apartment listed on the Airbnb website for $250 a night, more than four times her rent. With an attorney’s help, she filed suit, asking for her apartment back, plus damages. Her lawsuit is still pending.

GOV TECK _ LA SEEKS USER DATA TO ENFORCE CITY REGULATIONS  full article by Emily Alpert Reyes, of the LA TIMES

EXCERPT

The law would allow short-term rentals in Los Angeles but impose several restrictions:

People would be able to rent out only their primary residence, defined as the place they live at least six months out of the year. Hosts could rent out only that home, or a room within it, for up to 90 days annually.

 

They would be barred from offering apartments that fall under rent stabilization or affordable-housing covenants, and would have to pay the same kind of lodging taxes as hotels, which would go into a city fund for affordable housing.

EVICTION ASSISTANCE CENTER - SHRIVER HOUSING PROJECT LA - STANLEY MOSK COURTHOUSE

NLSLA SHRIVER HOUSING PROJECT LOS ANGELES INFORMATION


SHRIVER HOUSING PROJECT by the way began as a social activism by Sargant Shriver, Maria's father, one of the DEMOCRATIC KENNEDY FAMILY!


EVICTION ASSISTANCE CENTER
ALL LOW INCOME PARTIES IN AN EVICTION CAN BE REPRESENTED be it the TENNANT or the LANDLORD... (But guess which is usually the one with a low income?!)


IF YOUR LANDLORD HAS A LAWYER YOU NEED ONE.
ARE YOU AT THE BEGINNING OF AN EVICTION?


 WHERE


STANLEY MOSK COURTHOUSE 111 NORTH HILL STREET  ROOM 115
LOS ANGELES, CA  90011


MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY  9 am to 12 PM and 1 PM to 4 PM
FRIDAY 9 am to 12 PM only.
No Weekends


Please note that about 25 % of all evictions are filed at this courthouse and this EVICTION ASSISTANCE CENTER only works with tenants and landlords who would go to court here.
Also note that the idea is never get to court in the first place.


SHRIVER HOUSING PROJECT LA is also part of a joint project with NEIGHBORHOOD LEGAL SERBICE, INNVER CITY LAW CENTER, LEGAL AID FOUNDATION of LA and PUBLIC COUSEL, working with the LOS ANGELES SUPERIOR COURT.  It is funded by the California Administrative Office of the Courts


because, LOW INCOME PEOPLE CAN ALMOST NEVER AFFORD THE LAWYER THEY NEED and are BEATEN WITHOUT TRYING!


SARGENT SHRIVER PEACE INSTITUTE

LOS ANGELES (FINALLY) HAS A RENTERS UNION! PROTESTS - EVENTS - RENTERS PUSHED INTO THE STREETS OVER ELLIS EVICTIONS

LA CURBED - LOS ANGELES TENANTS UNION

EXCERPT:   WHERE WILL YOU GO WHEN YOU CAN'T AFFORD YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD?

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Los Angeles has the highest percentage of renters of any big US city, well over half of Angelenos rent, and still renters are pretty much second class citizens. Property owners have spent the years since the last recession raising rents in LA to outpace inflation, and to far outpac wages, to where a person earning LA's median income has to put nearly half of that money toward paying rent (forget ever saving enough to buy). And still landlords lobby city and state governments to pass on more and more costs—water, important earthquake retrofits—to their tenants, even though they'll reap all the financial benefits from making them.

Finally, having had enough, here comes the LA Tenants Union to represent renters and those pushed out of housing altogether, into the streets (those numbers are rising in LA too). It's open to all (they meet twice a month) and are member-led—attendees vote on which issues are priorities and how they'll deal with them. They formed this summer and in the week leading up to Halloween are holding their first major series of actions: Day of the Dead. Days of Rage.


FACEBOOK LOS ANGELES TENANTS UNION - UPCOMING PROTESTS and EVENTS

BASTA and DANIEL BRAMZON and THE EVICTION DEFENSE INDUSTRY in LOS ANGELES

LA WEEKLY - SUPERMAN OF THE RENTERS - DANIEL BRAMZON by Hillel Aron

EXCERPTS

With margins like that, it's easy to fall behind. Some 64,000 to 73,000 people are evicted in L.A. each year — a population equal to that of Redondo Beach. But before the sheriff shows up at their door with a padlock, they're called here, to "unlawful detainer" (legalese for eviction) court. Every day, more than 50 cases move through Department 94. ... Indeed, Basta's business is booming, as Bramzon himself is proud to admit. It has just hired a 14th lawyer, and it has offices in the eviction hot spots of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Lancaster. In 2012, the firm reported $1.5 million in revenue. This year, according to Bramzon, it will surpass $2 million. According to publicly available tax forms, Bramzon himself made only $30,000 from his work at Basta in 2012. On the side, he has a small private practice, which he says "pays the bills." ...
The landlords and their attorneys bristle at the sheer brazenness of Basta's business model.