August 19, 2026
Good news for small businesses in unincorporated L.A. county: today, Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell (SD2) announced she will be introducing a motion to strengthen commercial tenant protections. The motion will be introduced in a Board of Supervisors cluster meeting on Thursday, August 20, and brought to the full board on September 1.
L.A. County is home to approximately 250,000 businesses, making us the 19th largest economy in the world. These businesses are more than just storefronts: they provide jobs, services, and community stability, accounting for 43% of the local workforce. Most small businesses rent, but they do not have the same legal safety net available to residential tenants, such as protections from unreasonable rent raises and unjust evictions. This is because a 1987 California state law, the Costa-Keene Seymour Commercial Property Investment Act, bans most of these protections across the state.
For the past several years, SAJE and our Business Alliance members have been pushing L.A. City and County to enact the protections that are possible, such as a Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance for commercial renters. We are thrilled that Supervisor Mitchell’s motion includes a slate of additional protections, including:
- Requiring commercial landlords to obtain a Commercial Rental Property License (CRPL) as a condition of leasing commercial property
- Mandating relocation assistance for commercial tenants displaced by new development
SAJE and members of our Small Business Alliance will be attending the upcoming Board of Supervisors hearings to support the passage of this motion. If you or someone you know is interested in getting involved with our campaign for a more equitable rental market for L.A.’s small businesses, we invite you to join our monthly Business Alliance meetings on the second Wednesday of the month. We meet right here at SAJE and also on Zoom. Meetings are currently held in Spanish, and English interpretation is available on request. To learn more, email info@SAJE.net.
