As Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Summer Olympics, some renters say the countdown is already reshaping their lives — not with new stadiums, but with eviction notices for Californians.
A video posted on social media alleges that landlords are pushing tenants from rent-controlled apartments so the units can be converted into short-term rentals before athletes and spectators arrive.
Here's what to know
According to a recent video from More Perfect Union (@perfectunion), the conflict is playing out in neighborhoods like Echo Park, where elderly and immigrant tenants say they are being forced out of their homes ahead of the Summer Games two years down the road.
One person who spoke with More Perfect Union said that some landlords appear to be using the Ellis Act — a California law meant to let property owners evict renters in order to exit the rental business.
"But it's used more as a loophole to empty their units," they told More Perfect. "A lot of the time, emptying their units of tenants with rent control and rent control protections."
The video links the evictions to the claim that some building owners plan to convert long-term housing into short-term rentals and profit from the use of platforms such as Airbnb as the Olympics approach.
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One person in the clip put it bluntly: "While they said it was a no-construction Olympics, it is an eviction Olympics."
Those described as most vulnerable to evictions and displacements include older adults, disabled residents, and immigrants.
Another person in the video described the stress of the situation, saying, "I couldn't go to sleep because I was thinking about where can I go … I have nowhere to go."
What can be done?
As seen in the video, residents are speaking up and pushing back.
"The working people, immigrants, elderly people are coming together, and they're using collective action to stand up and fight against the system," More Perfect producer Eric Cheng said.
For renters trying to change restrictive rules before they become bigger problems, it can help to organize with neighbors and approach building management, rental platforms, and lawmakers with specific proposals — or demands.
"Just another reason to boycott Airbnb," one comment on the video read.
According to Capital & Main reporting last spring, the short-term rental company had asked Los Angeles to approve thousands of additional short-term rental units, "[promising] that the expansion will add more than $100 million in tax revenue to city coffers."
Meanwhile, New Republic reporting dating back to 2022 indicated that even then an apparatus was being put into place to force residents from their L.A. homes in advance of the 2028 Games and amid an ongoing homelessness crisis.
Where can I learn more?
For more on how renter protections can fall short, these stories cover price gouging, rent caps, and the fight for basic cooling standards:
• In Los Angeles, fire evacuees faced egregious rental costs as some landlords pushed price gouging.
• In Redwood City, voters weighed rent caps and tenant protections after mounting pressure.
• In Arizona, lawmakers proposed new indoor temperature protections as apartments became dangerously hot.
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