The fires took away their jobs. Now they’re struggling to keep their homes

Scarlett Reyes has been without a job for more than three weeks after the Altadena daycare center where she worked caught fire. 

Now, she not only has to worry about finding another job, but she is also struggling to figure out how she is going to pay for rent. 

She told her landlord about her situation and the landlord told her  she could either pay the rent for February or vacate the apartment. She was offered $11,000 to leave. 

Reyes has been living in the same apartment for about 11 years and has always been on time with her rent. She feels her landlord is eager to evict her so that the one-bedroom apartment can be rented at a higher price now that the housing demand in the area has increased. 

She said that after facing this situation, she tried to get help from local entities, but only received forms to complete  and phone numbers to call. No one could help her with real resources, like money for her rent. 

“It gets tiring. They just send us to one place then to another,” she said. 

Reyes said she has gone to the Pasadena City College and to the city of Pasadena but hasn’t received a specific answer of how they can help her. 

She borrowed money from a family member to pay her  February rent,  but said she doesn’t know how she will pay it for next month if she still doesn’t have a job. 

Los Angeles delays help

The situation to help vulnerable people affected by the fires extends far away from Pasadena and Altadena. On Wednesday. the Los Angeles City Council delayed, again, a motion to protect - tenants impacted by the wildifires. The motion included an eviction defense for those impacted and a one-year freeze on rent increases. The plan was sent back to the Housing Committee for further consideration and a date has not been scheduled for a vote. 

During public comment, people spoke in favor and against the eviction defense. Councilwoman Eunises Hernandez, who represents the First District, said she was frustrated with the lack of urgency to approve a motion that can prevent homelessness from increasing. She said her district experiences many evictions every month, even before the fires. he has seen that the majority of the people affected are blue collar workers, including gardeners, babysitters, handymen and other construction workers who live in her district and travel to jobs in the burned areas. 

“My people are the poor people who work and maintain places like the Palisades, and that's why I'm fighting so hard because we cannot afford to lose more of these community members. We have to try to fight for all our folks,” she said on Wednesday during the council meeting.

Prior to the vote, during public comment, a landlord, identified as Mike, said the eviction moratorium would only increase the problem by putting a burden on small landlords like him. 

He said insurance premiums have increased two to three times and maintenance and utilities have increased 35 to 40%.. Building upgrades cost an average of $7,000 per unit and while landlords are expected to pay these amounts of money they are not allowed to increase rent by more than 4% annually. 

Councilman Bob Blumenfield, who represents the Third District, said that he opposes  the eviction moratorium, presented a motion for “actual rental assistance” for tenants who need it. 

“During COVID, we were able to do it and we have the power to keep the same formula,” he said, adding that tenants would have to prove evidence they are directly affected by the fires. “It’s a little complicated but we can do it.”

Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez said trying to get money to financially help these tenants will take time and they have to find the funds. Therefore, an eviction defense has to pass quickly while a more permanent solution is developed. 

Elana Eden, spokesperson with Legal Aid Foundation, a nonprofit that provides legal assistance, said they haven’t heard about direct rental assistance but there are some general cash funds available and people affected by the fires may be able to access them. She said a tenant affected by the fires doesn’t have to pay rent and they may also be able to get refunded if they weren’t living in the unit after January 7 and returned after the order was lifted. 

“But it is important to communicate with the landlord in writing,” she said. “As of now there is no eviction freeze.”

She said if a landlord files for eviction with the court, the tenant should not panic and when the court day approaches they just have to show proof of why they couldn’t pay rent. 

She also recommended that once a tenant receives an eviction notice, they must contact stayhousedla.org to prove that they acted immediately. 

 Tenants affected by the wildfires are encouraged to visit the Pasadena City College Community Education Center at 3035 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena from 9 am to 8 pm on Thursday and Friday.