The Los Angeles City Council is inching closer to permanently protecting renters from “renovictions.”
On July 1, the City Council unanimously voted to amend a rule that granted landlords the ability to evict tenants in order to take on a substantial remodel or renovation of their property.
Under the current “just cause” ordinance, a substantial remodel that would allow a landlord to evict tenants included structural, mechanical or plumbing work.
The approved amendment will prevent landlords from using a substantial remodel as a legal reason to evict their tenants, unless they get a Government Agency Order.
A Government Agency Order happens when a local government agency, including the Los Angeles Housing Department, Los Angeles Building and Safety, the Los Angeles County Health Department or the Los Angeles Fire Department, gives a landlord an order to vacate or abate a unit based on the need to address housing code violations.
What is a ‘renoviction’?
Tenant rights groups say some landlords will use a renovation as an excuse to evict tenants, only to charge higher rents to a whole new set of tenants after the renovation. This is called a “renoviction.”
“To make it clear, what we’re doing today is we’re denying renovictions, but we’re also creating a clear pathway to renovations that works for both tenants and the landlords,” said Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, an advocate of the proposed policy whose district includes Canoga Park, Reseda, Tarzana and Woodland Hills.
Is this a permanent solution to the problem?
The decision comes four months after the council voted in favor of an interim ordinance with the same goal: preventing landlords from using “just cause” to evict tenants when implementing a remodel.
The temporary protection lasts only until Aug. 1 because the city has been exploring permanent legislation for several months.
In addition to the amendment, the city has instructed the Los Angeles Housing Department and the city attorney to create rules for relocation during the remodel and amend penalties for violators of the proposed ordinance.
“We want to have a clear pathway for legitimate renovations not renovictions,” Blumenfield said.
What will be required of landlords during a substantial remodel
In 90 days, the Los Angeles Housing Department will bring forth a proposal to the City Council to consider which will include what is required of a landlord if a tenant must be relocated during a remodel.
The proposal will provide rules for:
- How landlords will pay their renter a mutually agreed upon monetary amount for relocation.
- How landlords will provide comparable or better housing for displaced tenants for the duration of a renovation. In this scenario, the landlord will be required to pay all relocation expenses and pay rent for the temporary housing.
- How the tenant will continue to pay their landlord their monthly rent payment prior to a required relocation. The payments made will cover the time the renter is living in temporary housing during the relocation time period.
- How the tenant will return to their original unit with any new rent increase not to exceed the 10 percent allowable by state law.
What about penalties for landlords who use renovations to evict tenants?
The proposal will also include an updated penalty for violators of three times compensatory damages including mental or emotional distress, reasonable attorney’s fees and civil penalties of up to $10,000 but not less then $2,000 per violation, according to the city’s report. Additional penalties could be added per violation if a tenant is older than 65 or is disabled.
