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LA Rental Rights

LA Rental Rights

 

 

Los Angeles, along with several other densely-populated California communities, have been facing a housing crisis, particularly due to lack of affordable rental units.  Over 1,000 rent controlled units were removed from the Los Angeles market in 2015, displacing thousands of residents.  In response to the crisis, Mayor Eric Garcetti, along with the Los Angeles Housing and Community Development Department (HCIDLA), has launched a new campaign called, “Home for Renters,” to help renters better understand their rights as tenants.

Rent Control Removals Climb

 

Los Angeles County has the highest rate of renters in the nation; roughly 52% of Angelenos rent their homes.  But L.A. is also one of the most expensive places to live in the U.S., ranking 7th in the country (behind 4 other California cities).  On average, a 1-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles costs $1,970, and a 2-bedroom is around $2,900.

 

May-2016-National1

Many of the units for rent in Los Angeles are protected by rent control.  Multifamily units built before October 1978 are rent controlled, as well as some units built after 2006.  Rent control does not apply to single-family homes on their own parcel of land.  The Rent Stabilization Ordinance was added in 1979 to designate the legal reasons for eviction, the types of evictions that require relocation fees, and the limits to yearly rental increases.  Under the rent control laws, landlords can only raise rents for existing tenants by 3% each year, but rental rates can be set at the market rate after a tenant moves out.  Finally, in 1985, the Ellis Act was adopted which allows landlords to evict tenants in order to remove the rental property from the market or to demolish the property and build more apartments.

There are currently somewhere around 624,000 rent controlled units in Los Angeles.  Nearly 75% of apartments are rent controlled.  But there are nearly 10 million people in Los Angeles, and 52% of them are renters!

Local activists claim landlords are removing viable affordable housing units from the market to either construct high-priced units or receive higher rates from short-term rental sites like AirBnB.  The effort by the Mayor and HCIDLA is to educate tenants and landlords about their rights in hopes of avoiding unjust evictions and maintaining community integrity.

 

“The rent stabilization ordinance is the most powerful tool we have to keep families and neighborhoods together in a tight housing market. As we work to build new affordable housing, we also must make sure that residents know about the protections we already have in place,” Mayor Eric Garcetti

 

 

To find out if you apartment is covered, call HCIDLA at 866-577-7368.

 

Download your tenant and landlord guide book here

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0 Responses

  1. I happen to live in the county that is neighbors with LA county, not surprisingly, the rents here are also very high. Not to mention they seem to be increasing at an alarming rate. My first 1 bedroom apartment started out as a great deal, $1240/mo for 850 sq ft of full blown adulting. I was also excited because water, sewer and trash was included in this. When I was moving out 2 years later, I was paying for water, sewer and trash, approx. $70+/mo, they had also increased the monthly to $1390. People that had been living there for years were quite upset.

    I got lucky and found a landlord owned condo to rent that provided 2 bed/2 bath, 2 car garage, 950 sq ft for $1500/mo. Where I really got lucky though was my landlord, so far he has only increased rent by $30 and has made it clear he will keep my rent affordable and below market because he would like a long-term tenant.

    I’m never moving!!

  2. It is really good to know this type of information about clearly one of the most popular states of America, it’s amazing the quantity of rooms they rent, seems like those people love money or something like that, thank you for sharing this, really interesting.

  3. I actually have a friend who had some troubles regarding the rental of a house he was trying to complete, however, he wasn’t able to do anything with it. I really wish he had seen these rights before ever trying to rent the house. Thank you for sharing.

  4. It is never a bad idea to know your rights. I consider myself pretty lucky to have had good landlords, but I have heard of some other getting ripped off by theirs, so I am sure it happens quite a bit.

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