Got a pet during the pandemic? Soon your landlord can't evict you for them

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to codify and extend a COVID-era policy to protect tenants from being evicted for keeping unauthorized pets in their rental units.

Council members voted 13-0 to adopt the law, allowing tenants to keep pets they obtained during the height of the pandemic. Councilwomen Katy Yaroslavsky and Heather Hutt were absent during the vote.

Tenants who have not previously notified their landlord of their pets will need to do so within 30 days after the law goes into effect. Pets who were brought into rental units after Jan. 31, 2023, do not fall under the criteria for protection.

Mayor Karen Bass will need to approve the law before it can be implemented.

Council members worked to pass the law because current protections enacted a few years ago were set to expire on Jan. 31. Council members also wanted to curb further impact to the city's six animal shelters, which are at full or near-full capacity.

"The COVID-19 pandemic had a multitude of social, economic and health impacts on our communities, and countless families are recovering from the impacts," Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez said prior to the vote. "Many people lost their loved ones and were dealing with isolation from the quarantine, which led many to get new additions to their families."

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Hernandez said many of these pets helped people get through difficult times, and tenants should not be evicted from their homes at a time when the city is working hard to address the housing and homelessness crisis.

Under the law, landlords and property managers will be allowed to apply a "no-animal" rule after the tenant moves or if the pet is relocated elsewhere. There are provisions as well to allow evictions on certain grounds, such as if the animal presents a danger to other tenants.

"We have a responsibility to continue to expand and codify critical tenant rights that will keep people in their homes, and if that means keeping them with their pets in their homes, so we have to do that," Hernandez said.

Daniel Yukelson, CEO of the Greater Apartment Association of Los Angeles, told City News Service in December 2023 that he was concerned about the effect the law will have on landlords. He said pets could cause issues for other tenants who may be allergic, scare them or otherwise cause a "bad incident."

"Especially when you turn over a unit, there's often some damage left behind such as stained carpeting or other destruction of property," Yukelson added. "The City Council has once again created another burden for rental housing providers. These keep adding up and up. People will want out of the rental business and don't want to be in Los Angeles."

Last year, the council's Neighborhoods and Community Enrichment, and Housing and Homelessness committees recommended passing the law.