The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to approve an ordinance aimed at staving off attempts by landlords to evict people from their homes ahead of a statewide rent control law going into effect in the new year.

The council’s emergency measure was proposed last week, soon after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 1482, a bill to cap rent increases each year, and prohibits evictions without “just cause.”

Once signed by the mayor, the stopgap measure — approved 14-0 by the council — could go into effect by end of the week, if not by the next day, depending on when it is published by the city clerk, according to a city attorney.

It would affect people whose “no-fault” evictions have yet to go into effect, city attorneys said.

City housing officials have reported an increase in calls from advocacy groups and tenants who have received eviction notices, while city leaders pointed to a landlords’ attorney who recommended that his clients try to beat the new state rule by issuing eviction notices ahead of Jan. 1, 2020, when the measure becomes law.

Prior to the vote, apartment and rental tenants who said they faced orders to vacate, threats of evictions and high rent increases urged city leaders to place a hold on “no-fault” evictions in order to protect them during the months of November and December.

The city’s emergency ordinance does not address evictions due to a tenant’s inability to pay rent, but northeast San Fernando Valley Councilwoman Nury Martinez said she is working with city housing officials to create a “rent relief” program to help tenants hold onto their rental units through the end of the year.

Martinez said she is worried that some landlords may “rent-gouge,” or try to push out tenants by hitting them with sudden, steep rent hikes.

“It’s also cruel to do this right before the holidays,” she noted.

Councilman David Ryu, who represents the Miracle Mile, Hollywood and Sherman Oaks areas, called the practice of booting people out of their homes prior to the rent control bill going to effect “shameful.”

“It’s been happening way too frequently, and I’ve seen this in my district personally,” said David Ryu. “Too many long-term residents are being pushed out by greed.”

Some tenants who recently received orders to vacate also took to City Hall last week to say that they believe the state bill was an impetus for their landlords to try to evict them.

Gerson Sanchez, who lives in an apartment building on Woodman Avenue in Van Nuys, said he and nearly 80 other tenants were recently ordered to vacate within 60 days by their landlord, who cited a need to remodel the building.

The Los Angeles City Council last week fast-tracked the measure, which stems from a motion authored by council members Mitch O’Farrell and Curren Price that was authored earlier this month. A city attorney said the ordinance, which calls for a temporary prohibition on “no-fault” evictions through Dec. 31, was drafted in less than two days.

A suggestion made in another motion by Councilwoman Martinez to prevent rent increases before the state bill’s start date did not make it into the measure.

City attorneys said Tuesday that the city is limited in being able to prevent rent increases that adhere to state and local laws.

Representatives of apartment landlord associations last week questioned the legality of the emergency measure and whether the state bill has indeed led to a rush of evictions or rent hikes.

City attorneys told the council Tuesday that they crafted the ordinance in such a way as to avoid anticipated legal complications and pushed back against some city council members’ suggestions to go further with the measure, such as one that called for it to be retroactive to a particular date.

The city is also limited by state laws such as the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, which limits what municipalities can do to expand on existing rent control provisions, city officials said.