A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has ordered the City of Los Angeles to pause its implementation of Assembly Bill 630, a plan led by Councilmember Traci Park and backed by Mayor Karen Bass to accelerate the seizure and destruction of recreational vehicles used as homes by unhoused Angelenos.
The order, issued in a lawsuit brought by the CD11 Coalition for Human Rights, directs the City to vacate its instructions to begin enforcing AB 630 and to return to court to justify its authority to do so. An alternative writ is not a final ruling, but it requires the City to either abandon the policy or persuade the judge that its interpretation of the law is valid. For people currently living in RVs, the order means the City cannot move forward with expanded AB 630 vehicle seizures while the case is pending.
AB 630 was advanced at the state level with strong backing from Mayor Bass with the goal of expanding the City’s ability to dispose of recreational vehicles. Carried by Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez, the legislation amended the California Vehicle Code to allow counties to dispose of certain abandoned recreational vehicles valued up to $4,000, an increase from the previous $500 threshold. The statute was written as a narrow county-level pilot and did not grant cities independent authority to seize and destroy vehicles used as homes.
“We’re frustrated that we have to ask a judge to tell the City what anyone reading the statute can plainly see: The City has no authority to implement AB 630,” said Peggy Kennedy, a member of the CD11 Coalition for Human Rights. “The law is clear, and so is the harm that it will cause our members and neighbors who live in RVs if the City implements its illegal plans.”
Legal advocates argue that the City’s plan stretches the law beyond what the Legislature authorized, turning a limited county provision into a citywide enforcement tool aimed at people living in vehicles. In December, a coalition of legal organizations including the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, the ACLU of Southern California, Western Center on Law and Poverty, and the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund sent a formal legal letter warning the City that its planned implementation of AB 630 conflicted with the statute’s plain language and exceeded the City’s authority. When the City declined to reverse course, the coalition filed suit.
The court’s intervention follows a sustained enforcement push against vehicle dwellers coordinated between City Hall and the mayor’s office. Park has repeatedly introduced motions expanding enforcement against people living in vehicles, while Bass has supported and encouraged the use of AB 630 as a mechanism to accelerate vehicle seizures in Los Angeles. In her 20th motion targeting vehicle dwellers, Park urged city departments to begin seizing and destroying RV homes ahead of schedule, framing the policy as a public safety measure while critics warned it would displace residents without providing housing alternatives.
Advocates argue the City’s approach would result in people losing their only shelter along with essential belongings including medications, documents, and mobility equipment, while sidestepping state safeguards meant to prevent such outcomes. They warn that Los Angeles’s interpretation of AB 630 could set a precedent allowing cities to bypass legislative limits through enforcement-first policymaking.
The upcoming hearing will determine whether the judge makes the writ permanent, which would formally bar the City from enforcing AB 630 as proposed. Until then, the court’s order places the City’s RV seizure policy under judicial scrutiny and pauses an enforcement effort that would have dramatically expanded Los Angeles’s authority to destroy vehicle homes.