LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to codify and extend a COVID-era policy that protects 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.”
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.
