During a special meeting this morning, the Long Beach City Council approved an urgency ordinance to address tenant harassment.
The ordinance would prohibit a number of actions by landlords deemed harassment, including but not limited to:
• Failure to perform timely repairs and maintenance
• Excessive entries for inspection
• Threats to report a tenant to the United States Department of Homeland Security
• Threats to a tenant, by word or gesture, with physical harm
• Violation of laws prohibiting discrimination
• Violation of a tenant’s right to privacy by requesting information regarding residence or citizenship status
• Communication with a tenant in a language other than the tenant’s primary language for the purpose of intimidating, confusing, deceiving or annoying the tenant
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The ordinance would also allow tenants to sue their landlords in civil court for any violations of the ordinance. Landlords found in violation would have to pay a penalty of no less than $2,000 and no more than $5,000 per violation.
If the tenant is over the age of 65 or disabled, the court could award $5,000 per violation.
Andrew Mandujano, a community organizer with Long Beach Forward, said he had firsthand experience with tenant harassment.
He said that he’d seen cases where landlords refuse to address water leaks, black mold and rat infestations in their tenants’ units. This, he said, has been coupled with unlawful eviction attempts, intimidation, threats and the spread of false information to tenants.
“This exact scenario has been playing out for months between vulnerable tenants and slumlords across the city,” Mandujano said.
During public comment, property owners took the opportunity to share their concerns about the ordinance, particularly in its lack of “bad faith” language and community input.
“Bad faith” language would require tenants to prove in court that their landlords were acting in bad faith when violating the ordinance. As it stands, no bad faith language is included in the ordinance.
Jesse Howard, a small property owner in Long Beach, said “landlords and tenants really need to work together” and that the ordinance would “only create additional problems.”
Attorney Joshua Christian from the Legal Aid Foundation said that good landlords would have nothing to worry about in regards to the ordinance.
He said only “serious, egregious offenders” should have cause for concern and that a blanket “bad faith” requirement would only serve as protection for violating landlords.
Vice Mayor Andrews seemed intent on passing the ordinance as written.
“Any one of those individuals who spoke about bad faith, I know if any one of you are good landlords, you don’t have to worry about this anyways,” Andrews said.
Councilmembers Mary Zendejas, Jeannine Pearce, Dee Andrews, Roberto Uranga and Rex Richardson voted in favor of the ordinance.
Councilmembers Stacy Mungo, Suzie Price, Daryl Supernaw and Al Austin were not present at the meeting.
The next city council meeting will take place via teleconference on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 5 p.m.
First of all, these properties belong to the landlord who is the owner, NOT the city. This is socialism at work here, make no mistake. The Mayor and Gavin Newson both are eroding our rights and must be removed