In L.A. Tenants, Divisions Fall as Displacements Rise
Once divided by gentrification, an immigrant janitor and a millennial marketing executive now count on each other as fellow renters battling corporate landlords.
In L.A. Tenants, Divisions Fall as Displacements Rise
Eduardo Jarquin watches as Guadalupe Ramirez speaks with others about whether to accept a cash offer to vacate her rent-controlled apartment in Koreatown. Sam Trinh and K3 Tenant Council organizer Rosa Arroyo speak with Guadalupe Ramirez about her legal rights as a tenant. Guadalupe Ramirez shows Sam Trinh damage inside her unit. The K3 Tenant Council protests outside a K3-owned building in Koreatown. They say the landlord neglects repairs while offering tenants cash buyouts from their rent-controlled leases.K3 Tenant Council organizers tell fellow tenants that the buyouts — often around $6,000 — are not enough to forfeit a rent-controlled apartment in Los Angeles.Movers empty the apartment of a tenant who accepted a buyout at a K3 building in Koreatown.Movers carry a refrigerator from an apartment of a tenant who accepted money to leave a rent-controlled unit. Cash for keys buyouts are legal in Los Angeles as long as they are not coerced.Tenants address the media as movers empty an apartment.Eduardo Jarquin and Sam Trinh enjoy ice cream together at a favorite spot near Jarquin’s apartment.Eduardo Jarquin and Sam Trinh in discussion on the steps of a Koreatown building. They say their friendship is one long, rolling conversation on tenant organizing and life.In 2021, Sam Trinh became Eduardo Jarquin’s ride to tenant meetings and actions across Los Angeles county. Together they attend as many as five meetings in a single weekend.The view from Eduardo Jarquin’s door: Across the street, a new development rents one-bedroom apartments for nearly $2,500.
