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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Five City Council members called Tuesday for the city to establish a $10 million assistance program to provide direct payment to small landlords in Los Angeles waiting on rent due from tenants since the beginning of the pandemic.
In the last couple of weeks, the council has voted for landmark legislation providing tenant protections as the city's local state of emergency due to COVID-19 expires at the end of the month.
The motion, presented by Bob Blumenfield, Monica Rodriguez, Traci Park and Tim McOsker and seconded by John Lee, states that the city must "do more" to help small landlords who have "faced years of financial uncertainty, tremendous debt, and personal hardship with keeping vulnerable tenants housed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic."
The council members said that without urgent monetary relief, landlords could never recover their lost rental income and could end up having to sell their property to large corporations.
The motion called for the city's housing department to establish a Small Housing Provider Assistance Program, and report on recommendations on parameters for the program.