Abstract
Health policy responses to the Covid-19 pandemic often focused on “flattening the curve.” Health officials and politicians took steps to try to limit the number of people who were sick at any one time, to protect hospitals from being overwhelmed by a flood of patients. Some legal responses to evictions during this time were based on a similar rationale.
Similar to public health concerns around Covid-19, tenant advocates were concerned with the possibility that economic effects of the pandemic could lead to a “tsunami” of evictions hitting all at once and overwhelming legal advocates and tenant communities. Tenant advocates argued for eviction protections that would limit the damage that could be caused by a large wave of evictions. In this context, eviction protection laws became a way to “flatten the eviction curve.”
How effective were these measures at flattening the curve of evictions? Los Angeles is a case study for any advocacy to protect tenants. Los Angeles has characteristics which make it an ideal setting for examining tenant protections, including different types of “moratorium” laws. Because of the variety of legal protections at different levels, we can look at Los Angeles as a “laboratory” for examining the efficacy of various measures.
Recommended Citation
Wenger, Kaimipono D.
(2025)
"Flattening the Eviction Curve: Lessons from Los Angeles About Tenant Protection During a Pandemic (and Beyond),"
Loyola Interdisciplinary Journal of Public Interest Law: Vol. 2:
Iss.
1, Article 2.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/lijpil/vol2/iss1/2
