Skip to content
×
PRO
Pro Members Get Full Access!
Get off the sidelines and take action in real estate investing with BiggerPockets Pro. Our comprehensive suite of tools and resources minimize mistakes, support informed decisions, and propel you to success.
Advanced networking features
Market and Deal Finder tools
Property analysis calculators
Landlord Command Center
$0
TODAY
$69.00/month when billed monthly.
$32.50/month when billed annually.
7 day free trial. Cancel anytime
Already a Pro Member? Sign in here

Join Over 3 Million Real Estate Investors

Create a free BiggerPockets account to comment, participate, and connect with over 3 million real estate investors.
Use your real name
By signing up, you indicate that you agree to the BiggerPockets Terms & Conditions.
The community here is like my own little personal real estate army that I can depend upon to help me through ANY problems I come across.
General Landlording & Rental Properties
All Forum Categories
Followed Discussions
Followed Categories
Followed People
Followed Locations
Market News & Data
General Info
Real Estate Strategies
Landlording & Rental Properties
Real Estate Professionals
Financial, Tax, & Legal
Real Estate Classifieds
Reviews & Feedback

User Stats

318
Posts
154
Votes
Osazee Edebiri
Pro Member
  • Realtor
  • San Jose, CA
154
Votes |
318
Posts

Rent Control Strategies

Osazee Edebiri
Pro Member
  • Realtor
  • San Jose, CA
Posted

Hi BP,

Wondering if anyone has suggestions for rent control units? Rent control  Particularly in Oakland, California.  I have a unit at an excellent rate, and like to get my other units that are at low rents to at least market rate.

  • Osazee Edebiri
  • User Stats

    552
    Posts
    181
    Votes
    Susan O.
    • Fresno, CA
    181
    Votes |
    552
    Posts
    Susan O.
    • Fresno, CA
    Replied
    Originally posted by @Matt Mason:
    Originally posted by @Susan O.:
    Originally posted by @Matt Mason:
    Originally posted by @Susan O.:

    Youre actually not allowed to do cash for keys in cities like LA. Possibly in other cities. 

    http://www.laweekly.com/news/la-moves-to-curb-cash...

    They cracked down on landlords  even offering as much as $75,000 to tenants to leave! it's like having to bribe someone even though it's YOUR property

    Also if you want to be an owner occupier in LA you have to pay up to $22k in relocation fees.

    If you try to give cash for keys you can get fined and open a lawsuit in a lot of cities with rent control.  it's illegal under rent control rules.

    http://hcidla.lacity.org/Relocation-Assistance up to $23k/ family for relocating older tenants

    Yes, you can do cash for keys in Los Angeles.  Not sure if you read your article, but it just discusses the fact that the cash for keys transaction has to be recorded with the City. 

     They actually don't let you raise it to market rents during a pay out or reloacation.  So you can pay them out to use the ellis act and change the use, but you can't raise the rents for the existing units.

    I've paid out a tenant $23,000 then I was not able to raise the rents.  I had to keep the rents at the current rate based on the previous tenant.

    https://caanet.org/rentcontrol/

    http://hcidla.lacity.org/rso-overview

    If the tenant agrees to a payment and agreement to vacate their unit you can charge whatever you want on the re lease.  If you are talking about Ellis Act or moving in as an owner then that would not apply as there are additional rules regarding that.

    I know several people that buy out tenants, renovate the units and re lease at market rates in LA.  It is done all the time.

    Is that what was in the news when someone mention someone getting paid $80,000 for just one unit to move

    http://www.sfexaminer.com/landlords-demand-fewer-r...

    User Stats

    552
    Posts
    181
    Votes
    Susan O.
    • Fresno, CA
    181
    Votes |
    552
    Posts
    Susan O.
    • Fresno, CA
    Replied

    http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tenant-buyouts-20160919-snap-story.html

    Steadily logo
    Steadily
    |
    Sponsored
    America’s best-rated landlord insurance nationwide Quotes online in minutes. Single-family, fix n’ flips, short-term rentals, and more. Great prices.

    User Stats

    231
    Posts
    260
    Votes
    Matt Mason
    • Investor
    • Los Angeles, CA
    260
    Votes |
    231
    Posts
    Matt Mason
    • Investor
    • Los Angeles, CA
    Replied
    Originally posted by @Susan O.:

    http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tenant-buyouts-20160919-snap-story.html

    Again.  Nothing in there about cash for keys becoming illegal. 

    User Stats

    552
    Posts
    181
    Votes
    Susan O.
    • Fresno, CA
    181
    Votes |
    552
    Posts
    Susan O.
    • Fresno, CA
    Replied
    Originally posted by @Matt Mason:
    Originally posted by @Susan O.:

    Again.  Nothing in there about cash for keys becoming illegal. 

    Well it looks like it's getting an overhaul statewide unless we do something about it.  Here's a large tenant group that is funding smaller groups throughout the state

    http://www.tenantstogether.org/issue/rent-control

    http://www.tenantstogether.org/campaigns/rent-cont...

    User Stats

    318
    Posts
    154
    Votes
    Osazee Edebiri
    Pro Member
    • Realtor
    • San Jose, CA
    154
    Votes |
    318
    Posts
    Osazee Edebiri
    Pro Member
    • Realtor
    • San Jose, CA
    Replied
    Originally posted by @Susan O.:
    Originally posted by @Matt Mason:
    Originally posted by @Susan O.:

    Youre actually not allowed to do cash for keys in cities like LA. Possibly in other cities. 

    http://www.laweekly.com/news/la-moves-to-curb-cash...

    They cracked down on landlords  even offering as much as $75,000 to tenants to leave! it's like having to bribe someone even though it's YOUR property

    Also if you want to be an owner occupier in LA you have to pay up to $22k in relocation fees.

    If you try to give cash for keys you can get fined and open a lawsuit in a lot of cities with rent control.  it's illegal under rent control rules.

    http://hcidla.lacity.org/Relocation-Assistance up to $23k/ family for relocating older tenants

    Yes, you can do cash for keys in Los Angeles.  Not sure if you read your article, but it just discusses the fact that the cash for keys transaction has to be recorded with the City. 

     They actually don't let you raise it to market rents during a pay out or reloacation.  So you can pay them out to use the ellis act and change the use, but you can't raise the rents for the existing units.

    I've paid out a tenant $23,000 then I was not able to raise the rents.  I had to keep the rents at the current rate based on the previous tenant.

    https://caanet.org/rentcontrol/

    http://hcidla.lacity.org/rso-overview

    That's just terrible!

  • Osazee Edebiri
  • User Stats

    71
    Posts
    39
    Votes
    Randall Brown
    • Investor
    • Santa Cruz, CA
    39
    Votes |
    71
    Posts
    Randall Brown
    • Investor
    • Santa Cruz, CA
    Replied

    has been postponed to 2018.

    Whew! 

    Account Closed
    • Los Angeles, CA
    46
    Votes |
    95
    Posts
    Account Closed
    • Los Angeles, CA
    Replied
    Originally posted by @DG A.:

    I'm a fan of moderate rent control. 

    I think if Oakland and San Francisco were a totally free market, there would be no one earning below ~$125,000/year living here. And that would mean, minorities (due to their income) would often not have the opportunity to live in and work in areas with a lot of job opportunities like the Bay Area. 

     I just made the transition from renter to owner, and if Oakland were a free market my rent would have jumped up by $1100/month in just one year.

    As long as there's a time where the rent can reset to market rate, I think rent control actually drives property appreciation faster than it otherwise would.

    The trick as an investor is to know the laws, and use the tools at your disposal to get your rents up over time. Tools like:

    • Cash for keys
    • Capital improvement cost pass thru
    • owner-occupying small multifamilies
    • buying properties with banked rent increases
    • converting 2 small units into one big one
    • rent control exemptions 

    What drives rents to the roof is regulation, not the lack of.

    Rent  control is not only idiotic but a real deprivation of owner's rights

    In LA for example the bureaucracy and red tape for new constructions is such that it is often not worth the hassle for most developers. The city keeps feeding the urban sprawl, refuses to implement radical densification measures and rejects losening zoning regulation in the urban core. It's actually instead working hard at making the life of builders more and more miserable year after year. As a result, only a few new units come on the market every year in comparison with the population growth, constructions are taking forever, costs are over the roof; transfered to renters and home owners

    Losen regulation and you'd have tons of new development, high density stuff everywhere and your average rent would be slashed by 70%. That's how you keep prices down, not by putting a gun on landlords heads

    Landlord would suffer either way but at least prices would be back to fair value and there would be no housing shortage; there wouldn't be ridiculous artificial bubbles like in LA where land is extremely abundant and prices totally disconnected from reality . Law says you can only build a medium size sfr on an average size lot and then they wonder why the sprawl reaches the desert, and why the city is broke having to pay for thousands of miles of unnecessary public infrastructures