On Tuesday, February 25, 2025, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved tenant protections aimed at preventing evictions for renters financially impacted by the recent devastating wildfires. Officially known as the, “Resolution of the County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors Protecting Qualifying Income Eligible Tenants Directly Financially Impacted by the January 2025 Windstorm and Critical Wildfire Events,” the County of Los Angeles seeks to aid the thousands of tenants that, despite making it through the fire, are at risk of suffering displacement due to the catastrophe. The Ordinance’s primary feature is permitting rent deferment to qualifying tenants in need and prohibiting landlords from evicting tenants for rent and other money lawfully deferred in good faith under this law.
While the Los Angeles County 2025 Wildfire Eviction Protection Ordinance applies to all qualifying tenants residing in unincorporated Los Angeles County, it may apply to tenants residing in cities and towns within the County, such as the City of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Los Angeles County 2025 Wildfire Resolution § III.A.
The Los Angeles County 2025 Wildfire Eviction Protection Ordinance provides several important protections for Los Angeles tenants, including rent deferment for income-eligible tenants that cannot pay rent due to circumstances arising from the 2025 wildfires, a repayment plan for deferred rent, exempting deferred rent from being the basis of an eviction in Los Angeles County, and providing an affirmative defense to eviction actions for nonpayment of rent protected by the Los Angeles County 2025 Wildfire Eviction Protection Ordinance.
There are a few prerequisites Los Angeles tenants seeking rent deferment due to the 2025 wildfires must meet.
- First, the tenant must reside in unincorporated Los Angeles County or in an incorporated city within Los Angeles County that has not passed greater protections. To verify your exact legal address, please click here. If you reside in an incorporated city or town within Los Angeles and want to check for a local ordinance that may offer greater protections, please click here. Alternatively, you may call or visit your local city or town’s helpdesk. Most have office hours and can let you know if a local wildfire protection ordinance exists that applies instead of the Los Angeles County 2025 Wildfire Eviction Protection Ordinance;
- Second, the tenant must have resided in their unit on or before January 7, 2025;
- Third, the tenant must be income eligible, which means their 2024 income was equal to or less than 150% of the Area Median Income as established pursuant to Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937. Please click here to check the 2024 Area Median Income for Los Angeles County, California;
- Fourth, the tenants employer must have been destroyed or essential shuttered due to the 2025 wildfires resulting in actual lost wages, or the 2025 wildfires must have caused a layoff or reduction in their work hours, or the tenant’s clients located in the 2025 wildfire zone must result in a loss of income;
- Fifth, the reduction in income referenced in the preceding bullet point must be at least ten percent (10%) of the tenants average monthly household income immediately preceding January 7, 2025, as shown by pay stubs, pay receipts, employment letters, or other evidence;
- Please note that unemployment insurance, emergency benefits or other aid is to be included in this calculation;
- Sixth, the tenant must have started taking one of the following steps:
- Enrolling in or applying for a County Wildfire relief program;
- Applying for Unemployment Benefits with the California Employment Development Department or another qualifying income assistance program; or,
- Actively seek employment, including by submitting resumes and going on job interviews. Los Angeles County 2025 Wildfire Resolution § III.E.3.
Only after meeting these prerequisites may a tenant move forward with avoiding eviction under the Los Angeles County 2025 Wildfire Eviction Protection Ordinance.
After meeting these initial prerequisites, the tenant must then take affirmative steps to continue towards being able to lawfully defer their rent. First, the tenant must provide a written certification that they are unable to pay their rent due to other direct financial impacts related to the 2025 wildfires, that they are income eligible, and that they have begun income replacement efforts. Los Angeles County 2025 Wildfire Resolution § IV.A. The tenant must continue to self-certify within the first seven (7) days of each month. Id.
Once a tenant secures the right to defer rent to protect their home, their failure to pay lawfully deferred rent and other money may not be the basis for an eviction action. Further, the tenant may assert this Ordinance as an affirmative defense to an eviction action where applicable.
Once a tenant secures the right to defer their rent to protect their home, they have twelve (12) months following the expiration or termination of the Los Angeles County 2025 Wildfire Eviction Protection Ordinance to repayment all deferred money. Los Angeles County 2025 Wildfire Resolution § III.G. Presently, the Ordinance will sunset on July 31, 2025.
In addition to allowing tenants to defer rent, tenants may also invoke the Los Angeles County 2025 Wildfire Eviction Protection Ordinance to defer interest, late fees, and other fees owed pertaining to their tenancy. Los Angeles County 2025 Wildfire Resolution § III.F.
The Los Angeles County 2025 Wildfire Eviction Protection Ordinance covers tenants in rental units and mobile homes. Los Angeles County 2025 Wildfire Resolution § III.E.
Landlords may not force their tenants to waive any right provided under the Los Angeles County 2025 Wildfire Eviction Protection.
The Los Angeles County 2025 Wildfire Eviction Protection Ordinance became effective on passage, or February 25, 2025. The Ordinance is also retroactive to February 1, 2025, and will remain in effective until at least July 31, 2025, unless extended or repealed by the Board of Supervisors.
It is also noteworthy that the Los Angeles County 2025 Wildfire Eviction Protection Ordinance encourages tenants and landlords to discuss and mediate a payment plan and for landlords to consider accepting partial payments from qualified tenants where financially feasible. Los Angeles County 2025 Wildfire Resolution § IV.B.
Finally, the recitals to the Ordinance, which are incorporated into the Ordinance, define the 2025 Wildfires as the Palisades Fire, the Eaton Fire, the Hurst Fire, the Kenneth Fire, and multiple other fires throughout the County of Los Angeles.
In conclusion, the Los Angeles County 2025 Wildfire Eviction Protection Ordinance appears to be a critical ordinance following the unprecedented and devastating 2025 wildfires. The ordinance seeks to keep qualifying, fire-impacted individuals in their homes by limiting evictions, through lawful rent deferment, but, from our perspective, only to the extent necessary to prevent homelessness by keeping tenants housed.