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Seniors are perhaps the most vulnerable to California’s rising rents and evictions of any age group, disproportionately impacted by no-fault evictions. The threat of displacement and loss of community can take a mental and physical toll on seniors. lat.ms/2NDF1U9
Even when not facing eviction, seniors who depend on fixed incomes have a harder time weathering rent increases, even modest rises allowed under rent control. In 2016, 41.6% of renters 80 or older paid more than half their income on housing. 📸: @LizMoughon 
Rent hikes have been blamed for driving people of all ages into homelessness, but living on the streets can be particularly traumatic for seniors. In 2018, the tally of homeless people 62 and older in the greater L.A. area surged 22%, to nearly 5,000. lat.ms/2NDF1U9
73-year-old Mario Canel has lived in his Silver Lake apartment for the past 33 years, with rent control holding his rent below $400. But three months ago, a real estate investor purchased the complex and told all tenants to leave. 📸: @LizMoughon lat.ms/2NDF1U9
Canel faces the prospect of having to find a new home in a market where nearby studios rent for more than his monthly Social Security benefits. The crunch for seniors is most obvious in gentrifying neighborhoods with soaring rents, like Silver Lake. lat.ms/2NDF1U9
Canel has joined L.A. Tenants Union organizers in a fight to stay in his home, but his panic over the prospect of becoming homeless hasn’t disappeared. “I feel like I am suffocating. Every day,” he says. 📸: Ana Venegas lat.ms/2NDF1U9
Economists say you shouldn't be spending more than 30% of your earnings on rent and utilities. Use our tool to see where you can afford to live in California: lat.ms/2L6a6hD
