LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles City Councilmembers Ysabel Jurado, Eunisses Hernandez, and Heather Hutt today introduced a motion to explore the creation of a Commercial Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance, a first-of-its-kind effort in the City of Los Angeles to protect small businesses from coercive, retaliatory, and bad-faith landlord practices that are driving displacement across neighborhood commercial corridors.
Read the motion here.
“Small businesses are part of what makes our neighborhoods feel like home,” said Councilmember Jurado. “In CD14 and across Los Angeles, we are seeing local businesses, many of them family-run and immigrant-owned, being pushed out not because they are failing, but because of harassment, sudden rent increases, and coercive leasing tactics that exploit a lack of protections. This motion is about giving commercial tenants real protections and sending a clear message: small businesses should not be forced out simply because they lack the power to fight back.”
“Small businesses are the backbone of our neighborhoods, but too many are being pushed out by coercive and unfair practices they have little power to fight,” said Councilmember Hernandez. “As rising costs and post-pandemic challenges continue to strain our local economy, we have a responsibility to explore tools that prevent abuse and ensure small businesses have the protections they need to stay rooted, serve their communities, and thrive.”
"I’m proud to stand alongside my colleagues in advancing this effort to protect our small business community,” said Councilmember Hutt. “Right now, business owners have no meaningful way to guard against predatory actions from landlords, and this ordinance would provide the basic protections they deserve. Our small businesses employ thousands of Angelenos, many of whom are already struggling to afford living in the very city they help sustain. Price gouging and bad-faith practices are driving up costs and pushing businesses out of our neighborhoods. Legacy businesses across my district, from Koreatown to South LA, will be further marginalized and forced from their indigenous neighborhoods if we don’t act now. Through this effort, we are taking an important step toward a fairer, more accountable system that supports our local economy and keeps our communities thriving."
If approved, the motion will direct City departments to report back on the feasibility of establishing a Commercial Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance. Modeled in part on the City’s existing Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance, it would include enforcement mechanisms, accountability measures, and the creation of a private right of action for impacted businesses.
This effort follows growing concerns from small businesses and community advocates about displacement pressures exacerbated by post-pandemic recovery challenges, rising costs, and declining activity in key commercial corridors.
The motion is supported by a coalition of legal aid and community advocacy organizations, including Inclusive Action for the City, Public Counsel, Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE), Bet Tzedek, and the Little Tokyo Service Center.
It will go to the Economic Development & Jobs Committee for consideration before going to the full Council for a final vote.