Rental assistance is available for City of Los Angeles tenants through the Los Angeles Housing Department. The application is open September 19 – October 2. English 

Los inquilinos de la Ciudad de Los Ángeles pueden acceder a la asistencia para alquileres mediante el Departamento de Vivienda de Los Ángeles. Puede enviar su solicitud entre el 19 de septiembre y el 2 de octubre. Español 

Լոս Անջելես քաղաքի վարձակալների համար հասանելի է Լոս Անջելեսի բնակարանային վարչության կողմից տրամադրվող վարձակալության աջակցություն։ Դիմելու գործընթացը բաց է սեպտեմբերի 19 – հոկտեմբերի 2-ը։ հայերեն 

로스앤젤레스 주택사업부(LAHD)는 로스앤젤레스시 세입자에게 임대료 지원을 제공합니다. 신청 기간은 9월 19일~10월 2일까지입니다. 한국어

洛杉矶租户可向洛杉矶住房部申领租金补助。 9月19日至10月2日开放申请。简体中文 

洛杉磯市租戶可透過洛杉磯房屋局獲得租賃補助。 申請日期:9 月 19 日至 10 月 2 日。繁體中文

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Lawsuit Seeks to Protect Low-Income Tenants of Skid Row-Area Hotel

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 30, 2015 — To stop ongoing harassment by management and address long-standing habitability issues, 16 low-income residents of the Madison Hotel in downtown L.A., many of them elderly, disabled, and military veterans, and Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN), a tenant-organizing group, have filed suit against the hotel’s owners and management. The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and Inner City Law Center. The complaint, filed in Superior Court today, cites the past and current landlords’ violations of the Fair Employment and Housing Act, civil rights violations, and failure to provide habitable conditions. In addition to seeking court orders to stop defendants’ illegal conduct, plaintiffs are also asking for monetary damages for the harms they have suffered.

The Madison Hotel, at 423 E. 7th Street, is a residential hotel and one of the last affordable housing options in the downtown area. Many of the tenants, some of L.A.’s most vulnerable residents, have called the building home for decades. Since June when it bought the building, 423 E. 7th Street, LLC, and its management company, William Holdings, LLC, have engaged in a range of illegal and deplorable tactics apparently aimed at getting tenants to leave their home, including cutting essential services, ridiculing individuals for their disabilities, age, and sexual orientation, issuing invalid 24-hour notices to enter, and threatening to forcibly remove tenants from their units. Tenants, most of whom cannot afford to leave, have no way to escape this harassment and the resulting emotional harm and fear.

Many tenants also suffer from management’s failure to keep the hotel in a livable condition. Roaches run freely throughout the building, particularly now that management has ceased regular trash collection, and a long-standing bed bug infestation has exploded due to management’s ineffective treatments. The building’s only elevator was out of order for several days in August and nearly a week in October, forcing tenants who are elderly and disabled to climb as many as four flights of stairs to their rooms.

Further, the current owners and managers have cut or reduced building services, and changed building rules without tenants’ consent. Plaintiffs’ rent has always covered a number of services, including cleaning and linen services, which new management ended. It has banned guests, including LA CAN, which tried to organize residents. Management stripped the lobby and TV room of furniture and prohibited residents from socializing in those spaces, further isolating tenants. All of this was done in violation of state and local law.

The lawsuit was filed after tenants’ formal demands to stop harassment and address habitability concerns were not met.


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