AIDS Healthcare Foundation Activists Protest California Apartment Association on Larchmont

This morning’s gathering of 200 protesters in front of 320 N. Larchmont along with 10-foot tall ‘Greedy Landlord’ puppets, and dollar sign balloons resulted in a lot of curious texts and photos from Buzz readers.

It turns out it was a group of AIDS activists protesting at the office of the California Apartment Association (CAA) opposing their efforts to place a proposition on the November 2024 ballot seeking to strip AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) of its nonprofit status because of its advocacy for rent control.

According to AHF, the apartment association “has been gathering signatures for an anti-tenant, anti-patient ballot initiative deceptively titled ‘Protect Patients Now’ and has been doing so by lying to voters and taxpayers about how AHF makes its money.” 

AHF is the world’s largest HIV/AIDS healthcare organization and currently has 1.9 million patients in care. CAA is aiming to strip AHF of its nonprofit status and kneecap its life-saving work around the globe over the fight for rent control in California, according to the press statement they released today.

AHF has proposed their own ballot measure, The Justice for Renters Act, that would remove California’s rent control ban (Costa Hawkins) and give local communities the right to stabilize rents and make apartments more affordable for low-income and middle-income renters.

The Justice for Renters campaign kicked off in May 2023 with the announcement that more than 810,000 signatures in support of the proposed ballot measure have been collected and submitted, far more than the 546,651 needed to qualify the measure. On July 26, 2023, the Secretary of State’s office certified the measure for inclusion on the November statewide ballot, according to a press release from AHF.

Thanks to Anne Loveland, Kyril Kasimoff, Romi Cortier, Julie Stromberg and Gary Gilbert for photos.