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Bankruptcy

Nov. 24, 2025

LA and Santa Monica: Looming bankruptcy?

Mounting wildfire liabilities, sexual-assault settlements, revenue losses and soaring legal payouts have intensified concerns that Los Angeles, L.A. County or Santa Monica could face insolvency and contemplate the once-unthinkable step of Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

LA and Santa Monica: Looming bankruptcy?
Photo: Shutterstock

Could L.A. go broke?

Los Angeles has weathered a hellish menu of calamities over the decades, from firestorms, riots, earthquakes and floods to COVID shutdowns, smallpox epidemics and corruption scandals. The disasters date to the smog siege of 1955 and the St. Francis Dam collapse in 1928.

But bankruptcy?

So far, no city in Los Angeles County has ever petitioned for Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy protection. But as fiscal stresses mount, the threat lurks--espec...

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