LOS ANGELES, CA — On the heels of the Los Angeles City Council voting to modernize the Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance (LARSO) for the first time in more than 40 years—setting a new rent increase range of 1–4% for rent stabilized units—Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez on Friday introduced a motion to invest $300,000 in emergency rental assistance through the Central City Neighborhood Partners (CCNP) FamilySource Center in Westlake, expanding her office’s ongoing partnership to stabilize tenants across Council District 1.
Since launching her District 1 Emergency Rental Assistance Program earlier this year, Hernandez’s office has already distributed over $100,000 in direct aid, helping nearly 70 families, the majority of them living in Westlake and MacArthur Park, two neighborhoods with some of the highest immigrant populations in Los Angeles. The funds have kept these families housed by covering back rent and utility debt during an especially difficult year marked by rising housing costs and heightened ICE enforcement in immigrant communities.
“Our communities are being priced out by corporations, harassed by landlords, starved by the federal government, and terrorized by ICE all at once – and we have a responsibility to step up and fight back however we can,” said Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez. “Last week’s vote helped move the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance into the 21st century, capping rent increases at 4%. But we can—and must—go further. Expanding rental assistance is part of that fight: keeping our people housed and our neighborhoods whole.”
In 2025, District 1 has seen an average of 99 eviction notices every week, with tenants owing an average of $3,656 in unpaid rent per notice. For many, a few hundred dollars can make the difference between stability and displacement. But Councilmember Hernandez’s proactive tenant protection efforts are already delivering results. Over the past two years, evictions in Council District 1 have dropped 10%—more than twice the citywide rate of just 4%—thanks to her office’s work to strengthen the Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance (TAHO) and build one of the most robust tenant defense operations in the city, even resulting in securing the City’s first-ever Administrative Citation (ACE) against an abusive landlord. Beyond rental relief, Hernandez’s office has also invested more than $500,000 in food distribution programs, delivering thousands of grocery bags each month to families across the district, including those too afraid to leave home due to ongoing federal immigration actions.
“We are living in a tremendously hard time in this economy,” said Lupita Gonzalez, an organizer with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) Action. “We are losing jobs, and the most affected are tenants, who are struggling to make rent and are under threat of eviction. This rental aid will prevent families from ending up on the street without a roof over their heads.”
With this expansion of emergency rental assistance alongside last week’s LARSO update establishing a modernized 1–4% rent increase formula and eliminating outdated surcharges, Hernandez is advancing a coordinated effort to keep CD1 tenants housed and safeguard long-term anti-homelessness investments.