Media
News Reports
2023
The Eviction Crisis Is About to Hit Los Angeles (Jacobin, September 7, 2023)
4 O’Clock News (ABC 7, August 9, 2023; segment starting at 9:00)
Landlord Orders LA Renters To Pay Or Leave Chinatown Apartment Building (LAist, August 8, 2023)
LA Public Press “Smogland” Podcast (August 1, 2023)
After one year, little progress on LA’s efforts to acquire affordable housing building Hillside Villa (Spectrum News, June 2, 2023)
Hillside Villa tenants fight to stay in homes via eminent domain (KCRW, April 24, 2023)
Chinatown tenants protest at mayor’s home, plead for help amid eviction notices and rent increases (ABC7, April 15, 2023)
Chinatown renters camp out at Los Angeles mayor’s mansion to protest rent hike (KTLA5, April 15, 2023)
Chinatown renters rally against 300% spike in rent (KTLA5, April 14, 2023)
Threatened Tenants Want the Head of the L.A. Housing Department Out (LA Magazine, March 13, 2023)
Hillside Villa Tenants Say LA Housing Department Not Moving Fast Enough To Protect Them From Eviction (LAist, March 10, 2023)
"No hemos recibido ningún apoyo": inquilinos de Hillside Villa exigen renuncia de gerente del LAHD (Univision, March 7, 2023)
How Los Angeles Tenants Beat the Landlords -- For Now (The American Prospect, February 17, 2023)
Eminent Domain: Last Resort for Hillside Villa Tenants Facing Eviction (Capital & Main, February 4, 2023)
Hillside Villa Tenants Face Eviction While L.A. Tries to Buy Their Property (Capital & Main, January 25, 2023)
2022
Los Angeles Is Refusing to Enforce Hard-Won Tenant Protections (Jacobin, December 23, 2022)
L.A. City Council Leverages Eminent Domain to Buy Hillside Villa Apartment Building On Behalf of Tenants (KCET, August 31, 2022)
L.A. City Council OKs Unprecedented Move to Buy Chinatown Apartment Building (LA Magazine, May 31, 2022)
City of LA moves to buy expired affordable apartments in Chinatown (The Real Deal, May 29, 2022)
Video: Renters and tenant activists at Los Angeles City Hall yell “get out” while Patrick Hennessey, an attorney for Hillside Villa, tries to speak before the City Council (Los Angeles Times, May 27, 2022)
LA City Council begins process to buy Chinatown building amid rent increases (FOX 11 LA, May 27, 2022)
LA City Council to Consider Buying Apartment Amid Tenants' Rent Increase (KFI/AM640, May 27, 2022)
LA Approves ‘Unprecedented’ Plan To Take Over Chinatown Apartment Building, Against Owner’s Wishes (LAist, May 27, 2022)
Rent prices tripling in an LA Chinatown apartment building means residents face possible homelessness (Yahoo, May 27, 2022)
LA City Council votes to buy back Chinatown apartment building amid rent dispute (CBS 2 LA, May 27, 2022)
LA Approves ‘Unprecedented’ Plan To Take Over Chinatown Apartment Building, Against Owner’s Wishes (KPCC, May 27, 2022)
LA City Council votes to buy back Chinatown apartment building amid rent dispute (ABC7, May 27, 2022)
L.A. is looking to buy 124 apartments in Chinatown. But will every tenant get to stay? (LA Times, May 26, 2022)
While Affordable Housing Disappears Citywide, a Tenants’ Group Goes Big (Capital & Main, May 26, 2022)
Residents of Chinatown apartment complex want city to buy the building amid rent dispute (CBS 2 LA, May 26, 2022)
Inside the Multiracial, Intergenerational Fight to Keep 124 Families Housed in LA Chinatown (Medium, May 23, 2022)
Simultaneous Interpretation Drives the LA Tenants’ Movement (Knock LA, May 19, 2022)
Chinatown Residents Say Their Rents Are Being Unfairly Increased. The Owner Claims It’s Legal (LAist, May 6, 2022)
We Can Decommodify Housing Through Eminent Domain (Jacobin, April 1, 2022)
2021
The Enduring Fiction of Affordable Housing (The New Republic, April 2, 2021)
Struggling families brace for evictions as LA's Rental Assistance Program closes (Spectrum News LA, April 30, 2021)
Looking to avert evictions, L.A. seeks $46 million to buy Chinatown apartment building (Los Angeles Times, February 10, 2021)
2020
LA housing crisis: Covenant dispute in Chinatown prompts new legislation (South Pasadenan, January 31, 2020)
Chinatown landlord gearing for ugly battle with city over rising rents (Fox 11, February 5, 2020)
Activists urge Los Angeles to use eminent domain to save city's affordable housing (Next City, February 11, 2020)
Can eminent domain preserve LA's affordable housing? (Capital & Main, February 21, 2020)
Tenants call on LA to buy Chinatown complex after rent hike notices (NBC 4 LA, March 10, 2020)
Tenants of Hillside Villa in Chinatown Push for Eminent Domain (Spectrum News LA, April 17, 2020)
Chinatowns must radicalize to survive (The Nation, May 11, 2020)
Neighborhood Watch: As luxury developers move in on the working class neighborhood of Chinatown, longtime tenants are organizing to fight back (The Land Magazine, Summer 2020)
2019
Residents of Hillside Villa face rent increase as deal fails (LA Downtown News, September 16, 2019)
Deal to stop rent increases at Chinatown apartment complex falling apart (Curbed, September 3, 2019)
Chinatown tenants outraged over proposed rent hikes (KNX 1070, August 30, 2019)
Chinatown tenants voice concern over proposed rent increases (NBC 4 LA, August 30, 2019)
Rent hikes averted in Chinatown building (Downtown News, August 7, 2019)
At a Chinatown apartment building, tenants get last-minute reprieve from rent increases (KCRW, August 7, 2019)
Demonstration at landlords Malibu residence (Canyon News, July 10, 2019)
Column: Evictions loom for Chinatown residents who can't find affordable housing (Los Angeles Times, June 22, 2019)
Should the City use eminent domain to keep housing affordable? (LA Magazine, May 21, 2019)
Expiring affordability covenant threatens Chinatown tenants (Capital & Main, April 11, 2019)
Affordable housing in LA keeps rent low but it comes with an expiration date (Curbed, April 1, 2019)
Advocacy Journalism
As LA's Chinatown gentrifies, hundreds of tenants at the Hillside Villa apartments face massive rent increases (Knock LA, February 18, 2019)
LA's class struggle looks like this: The tenants movement (Salvo Paper, April 22, 2019)
Warning to the Botz Family: Stop using Hillside Villa tenants as your bargaining chips (CityWatch, June 10, 2019)
"Chinatown is not for sale": Chinatown Community for Equitable Development in profile (NOlympics LA, June 12, 2019)
Housing advocates file lawsuit against property owner threatening eviction by July 31 (LAFLA, June 18, 2019)
5 reasons LA should use eminent domain to save Hillside Villa
Tom Botz serves illegal rent increases to dozens of tenants at the Hillside Villa apartments
101 notes on the LA Tenants' Union (note 76)
Privatized "Affordable Housing" is a Scam
Los Angeles Can Easily Afford to Purchase the Hillside Villa Apartments
Tom and Chloe Botz Serve Eviction Notices After Two Deaths At Hillside Villa
Eminent Domain for the People! A Statement from the Hillside Villa Tenants Association