A rent control supporter joins a chant during a tenants rights rally in downtown Los Angeles Thursday, April 12. Supporters of ballot initiatives to limit rent hikes said they were uniting to form a coalition called Southern California for Fair Rents. (Photo by Jeff Collins, the Orange County Register/SCNG)

A supporter prepares to give a fist salute to chants calling for action to limit displacements due to gentrification in Southern California. Drives are underway or planned in eight California cities supporting rent control and “just cause evictions.” The cities include Pasadena, Glendale, Inglewood, Long Beach and Santa Ana. A petition drive also is just getting underway in National City in San Diego County. Citizen groups also are circulating rent control petitions in Sacramento and Santa Cruz. (Photo by Jeff Collins, the Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Supporters from at least a dozen housing and tenants rights groups rallied in downtown Los Angeles Thursday, April 12, in support of the repeal of the Costa-Hawkins Act and rent control measures in six Southern California cities. The 1995 state law limits rent control to older apartments. (Photo by Jeff Collins, the Orange County Register/SCNG)

Rent control proponents chant during a rally Thursday, April 12, in downtown Los Angeles. Representatives from at least a dozen tenants rights groups attended the rally, announcing formation of a new coalition called Southern California for Fair Rents. Allison Henry of the Pasadena Tenants Union, left, said her group has about half the signatures it needs to get rent control on her city’s November ballot. Petition drives also are planned or are underway in Long Beach, Inglewood, Glendale, Santa Ana and National City. (Photo by Jeff Collins, the Orange County Register/SCNG)

Rent control proponents from throughout Southern California gathered in downtown Los Angeles Thursday, April 12, to garner support for statewide and local rent control ballot initiatives. Petition drives are underway or planned in eight California cities seeking to put rent control on the November ballot — including five in Los Angeles and Orange counties. (Photo by Jeff Collins, the Orange County Register/SCNG)



Rent control proponents turned up the heat Thursday, staging a rally in downtown Los Angeles in support of local and statewide ballot initiatives seeking to expand rent-hike limits.

Supporters from about a dozen housing and tenants rights groups in about a half-dozen Southern California cities gathered in a sun-drenched plaza behind the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration.

One speaker announced the formation of a regionwide tenants rights coalition called “Southern California for Fair Rents.”

“Renters are on the move,” said Steve Diaz of the L.A. Community Action Network. “We need renter’s protections so renters can stay in their homes.”

A drive is underway to put a statewide initiative on the November 2018 ballot seeking to repeal the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Act, a state law limiting rent control to apartments, duplexes and triplexes that are at least 23 years old. If the measure passes, cities also could impose rent control on houses, condos and newer apartment buildings.

Citizen groups in eight California cities from Sacramento to National City also have petition drives underway or planned seeking to pass rent control and “just cause eviction” rules. They include signature drives in Long Beach, Pasadena, Santa Ana, Inglewood and Glendale.

Just cause eviction rules limit the reasons landlords can issue move-out notices to tenants without going to court to seek formal eviction. Many supporters said rising apartment values are pushing up rents and pushing out lower-income tenants. Landlords in cities without such restrictions can order tenants to move out for any reason or for no reason at all provided they give at least 30 or 60 days notice.

“The poorer people have moved out because of the rent,” said Pasadena renter Bob Roberts, 84, who has lived in the same apartment for 53 years. “Now the lower-middle and middle-class have moved out because of the rent. It’s all over California. People can’t afford it.”

Local and state landlord groups have vowed to fight the rent control initiatives, saying such measures are an infringement on private property rights. Property owners assert further rent control harms tenants by reducing the quality and number of rentals.