Who Owns Los Angeles?

Notoriously little public data is collected on the ownership of rental properties in Los Angeles. Still, academic and community-based research shows that over the decades, Los Angeles has increasingly been owned by corporate interest, and not by the people. Working-class people struggling with housing insecurity are overwhelmingly not the ones benefiting from the investment-oriented housing system popular in Los Angeles and across our nation’s communities. When land is owned by the community and not corporations, everyone has the opportunity to prosper. Increasingly, tenants have found it impossible to pay rent during the pandemic. Going forward, even more renters will be unable to pay back-owed rent debt when temporary tenant protections expire. As eviction filings rise, permanent displacement becomes a greater threat for vulnerable communities. Corporate interests are already preparing to capitalize on the financial disaster. The immediate impacts of the crisis include job loss, landlord harassment, illegal lockouts, evictions, and houselessness.

OWN-IT! is an interactive tool that identifies properties at risk of displacement. Visit ownit.la to learn more about owner history of a building near you. Read more our campaign against corporate landlords in our one pager and sign up below for updates how to take back our neighborhoods.