Rent day has come three times during the pandemic. Tenants are piling up debt. Many are terrified.

Meanwhile, we’re learning that LA's systems are simply not designed to protect people.

How do we change that? One essential step: a full registry of rental units. (thread)

Whether you want to stop evictions, enforce rent freezes, or implement rent forgiveness, none of it is possible without a rental registry.

It may seem like a minor innovation, but this database is an essential step toward changing the power dynamic between landlords and tenants.

Right now LA has far too little data on:
-How many total rental units there are in the city
-Where rental units are
-Who owns rental properties
-How much landlords are charging
-Which landlords have violated tenant rights

Or much of anything else about our city’s rental housing.

LA does have a database of landlords of rent-stabilized units, which make up only about half of all rentals.

But landlords in the registry don’t even have to report the rent they’re charging -- the online form doesn’t even have an option to do so. https://twitter.com/ShaneDPhillips/status/1274078350613438464

Even this limited database isn’t used to proactively inform landlords and tenants about their rights and obligations.

Changes to rules like eviction protections and rent freezes are not sent out to landlords and tenants automatically.

Our lack of data about rental properties makes it nearly impossible to enforce tenant rights -- which are being violated right now.

Last month the LAT found evidence of 290 illegal evictions in the pandemic's first 10 weeks, mostly in South LA. https://www.latimes.com/homeless-housing/story/2020-06-18/despite-protections-landlords-attempting-to-evict-tenants-in-south-l-a-black-and-latino-neighborhoods-data-shows

A rental registry would make it easier to fine landlords who attempt illegal evictions and record which landlords are racking up violations.

Rental housing is one of our city’s most vital and scarce resources. Shouldn’t we know how much of it we have and who owns it?

LA City Councilmembers have recently pushed back against strong renter protections because they say they want to protect mom-and-pop landlords.

But our lack of a real registry prevents us from being able to identify who actually *is* a mom-and-pop landlord.

The lack of a rental registry means LA currently has no way of knowing how many units landlords own, compounded by the fact that many landlords hide ownership behind LLCs.

In the absence of data about who is a mom-and-pop landlord, we've instead chosen to protect all landlords.

The pandemic and its attendant economic devastation have laid bare the faults in LA’s system.

We now have a chance to create a city that has more protections for tenants than the one we entered this terrible period with. Let’s build it together. https://www.nithyaforthecity.com/platform/rent-forgiveness/