Are your monthly rent payments higher? Here's why

Rents throughout Southern California have increased significantly, making the median monthly rent now, about $2,744.

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USC Price School of Policy professor Gary Painter explains the surge.

"It shouldn't be too surprising that we're seeing rents starting to go up when we've seen house prices go up fairly dramatically," said Painter.

Painter says he's actually surprised that the rent increases aren't higher. He says that while some people have started returning to the office, many want to and will stay home.

"I would have expected rents and house prices to go up even faster," said Painter.

With these expected increases, Francisco Dueñas at Housing Now California, says he's expecting evictions.

"Nationally, only about 3% of renters that go to eviction court have a lawyer or have an attorney with them. That is in comparison to 81% of landlords across the country," said Dueñas.

With a housing crisis already looming over Los Angeles, what can people do?

Shanti Singh of Tenants Together says it's important, now more than ever, for renters to understand their rights.

"There is a statewide rent cap, it doesn't apply to all properties but it certainly applies to a lot of them. That limits how much your landlord can increase your rent by in a given year," said Singh.