Los Angeles Tenants "Union" - Universal Rent Control

[Susan O.]

I was recently in Los Angeles and I saw all sort of posters in Korea town - which has a lot of hard working people who have brought it up from the 90s -- LA riots, slums, etc. 

There are posters that say "Housing is a Human Right" 

It sounds great as a slogan. But then they really want 'free ****' at the expense of hard working producers. Like House hackers, BRRR investors, small sacale landlords who work their butts off learning REI, and implementing it in their HARD WORK...

And now there are posters all over Wilshire and up and down the streets for the LA Tenants Union.  A group that want's to socialize housing in LA, California and the rest of the US.

http://www.dailynews.com/government-and-politics/2...

https://www.facebook.com/latenantsunion

They play the race card by getting non English speakers to sign up and are really getting active in LA.  I mean all they have to do is say "Hey do you want lower rent"  Sounds so simple, but it's really devastating to the economy and communities.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/...

[Ouman You]

my family owns rental properties in SM some are under rent control, like almost rental properties in SM they are old and and in a bad shape. Owners barely making money to live off. Rent control is bad, it should be supply and demand. 

[Joseph M.]

Ouman You , yeah it’s a shame to see so many of these run down places in the L.A area . How much lower are your tenants paying versus market rents ?

Have you considered selling the buildings or developing the land into condos or townhomes ?

[Ouman You]

Originally posted by @Joseph M.:

Ouman You , yeah it’s a shame to see so many of these run down places in the L.A area . How much lower are your tenants paying versus market rents ?

Have you considered selling the buildings or developing the land into condos or townhomes ?

 One is a 6 units 3 units are under RC they pay $900/2Bdr and market value is $3000 . 

We were thinking about the condos. But how do you go about the tenants that are already there ?

[KJ L.]

Politicians know how bad rent control is for the state which is why many wont vote on the issue but a select few choose to support rent control because they want votes. Maybe we need to create a group to send marketing and mail to SFR and property owners in CA to encourage them to vote against Rent Control in November.

[Joseph M.]

Ouman You I’m not an expert on it but there is something called an Ellis Act eviction . A landlord has the option to get out of the rental business . I know Santa Monica is notorious for being anti development perhaps more so than L.A .

I have also heard of people mentioning buying out rent control tenants ... “cash for keys “.

Pretty big relocation fees have to be paid by law according to the Ellis act , I know it’s like $7,000 -20000 per unit in L.A.. but it would be well worth it of course if you could make a big profit by redeveloping.

You’d want to work with an attorney that specializes in dealing with landlords /developers for sure in this situation .

[Dan H.]

Originally posted by @Joseph M.:

Ouman You I’m not an expert on it but there is something called an Ellis Act eviction . A landlord has the option to get out of the rental business . I know Santa Monica is notorious for being anti development perhaps more so than L.A .

I have also heard of people mentioning buying out rent control tenants ... “cash for keys “.

Pretty big relocation fees have to be paid by law according to the Ellis act , I know it’s like $7,000 -20000 per unit in L.A.. but it would be well worth it of course if you could make a big profit by redeveloping.

You’d want to work with an attorney that specializes in dealing with landlords /developers for sure in this situation .

 LA RSO has rules on what sort of redevelopment it can be and I do not have it memorized but in general the only redevelopment that qualifies for a non-fault eviction is to provide low income housing.  For all non-fault evictions the landlord is to pay relocation fees that depend on how long the tenant has lived there, are there minor children, are the senior, disabled, handicapped.  Development to low income housing would not result in significant return to justify the relocation fees.

The better option for a non-fault eviction is to move a family member into the unit.   The RSO defines the family members that qualify for the no-fault eviction so you cannot move in your cousin twice removed :=).

[Joseph M.]

Dan Heuschele yeah it seems kind of complicated but there are some loopholes I guess .
I guess it’s a nice little cottage industry for the lawyers too specializing in these types of evictions etc .

Yeah it seems the insistence on developing low income housing means that there is a lack of redevelopment in general . They say they want more housing built but they make it difficult and costly to build .

I remember reading an article about these people that had lived in echo park forever in a rent controlled apartment and the property was going to be developed into small lot homes. Not sure if you have to build affordable units when building those though , maybe .
I notice a lot of the new larger developments mention they have a certain number set aside for low income housing like 10 percent or something it seems , I believe the developer gets a low income housing tax credit for building it .

[Joseph M.]

Article from Curbed LA today , it’s going to be on the November ballot

—

“On Friday, Secretary of State Alex Padilla confirmed that supporters of a voter initiative calling for repeal of the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act had gathered enough signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot.”

“If the ballot measure passes, local lawmakers would also be able to put rent control regulations on single-family homes and condominiums, greatly increasing the number of housing units subject to limits on yearly price increases.

The initiative has already drawn the support of key Los Angeles officials, including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who has promised to explore updates to the city’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance should the initiative pass in November.”

https://la.curbed.com/2018/6/18/17475176/california-rent-control-ballot-measure-costa-hawkins

[Matt R.]

Originally posted by @Joseph M.:

Article from Curbed LA today , it’s going to be on the November ballot

—

“On Friday, Secretary of State Alex Padilla confirmed that supporters of a voter initiative calling for repeal of the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act had gathered enough signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot.”

“If the ballot measure passes, local lawmakers would also be able to put rent control regulations on single-family homes and condominiums, greatly increasing the number of housing units subject to limits on yearly price increases.

The initiative has already drawn the support of key Los Angeles officials, including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who has promised to explore updates to the city’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance should the initiative pass in November.”

https://la.curbed.com/2018/6/18/17475176/california-rent-control-ballot-measure-costa-hawkins

 The whole advantage of sfrs and condos was no rent control or 10% a month raise I think was state law but that is enough rent upside right. Values can go up 100k annually sometimes so this was one way to realize some of that maybe. If that other deal passes it can only pinch rental inventory more is the likely outcome imo. Our CA law makers at work. If we could give them a paid multi year vacation we might be better off really. 

[Joseph M.]

Matt R. Yeah exactly . I have a relative that is renting their SFH in West la for a lot less than what mortgage cost and they rent it for less than market rents .. They’ve been doing very well on appreciation of since bought in late 90s but if this rent control thing passes to apply to SFH I could see them selling the property thus removing it from the rental housing supply .

Also some people rent out their homes with the intention of possibly moving back at sometime but with rent control they would be stuck with renters for eternity.

[Susan O.]

http://savecostahawkins.org/

Make sure to VOTE NO ON PROP 10 

It would expand costa Hawkins

The California Apartment Association is pleased that the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, one of the most powerful labor groups in the state, has joined several other important statewide organizations in voicing opposition to Proposition 10.

The proposition would hurt owners of rental housing throughout California. It would extend rent control laws to single-family homes, institute vacancy control, and cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars in lawsuits.

A statewide ballot measure that would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act -- and return extreme forms of rent control to California — will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot as Proposition 10.

https://caanet.org/state-building-and-construction...

[Susan O.]

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/08/25/editorial-prop-10-would-exacerbate-californias-housing-crisis/

[Joseph M.]

Somewhat related 

Los Angeles considering providing attorneys to tenants facing eviction

https://la.curbed.com/2018/8/17/17720066/los-angeles-eviction-help-tenant-lawyers

[Susan O.]

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2018/05/10/faced-with-a-housing-crisis-california-could-further-restrict-supply

[Susan O.]

Vote NO on 10 to protect home ownership and rental housing!  https://noprop10.org/

THE FACTS

Proposition 10 will make California’s housing crisis worse.

This flawed measure is the wrong way to provide more housing that working Californians can afford. We should focus on better solutions for providing rent relief to Californians than this initiative, including increasing tax credits for renters, passing new bonds to provide public funding for affordable housing construction, and requiring developers and cities to build more affordable housing across the state.

Proposition 10 is the wrong solution for a state that desperately needs to create more affordable housing for middle class families. We should vote NO on Prop 10.

DON’T BE FOOLED

PROP 10 REPEALS A HOUSING LAW WITH NO SOLUTION.

• Prop 10 is the wrong approach to our state’s housing crisis. It repeals an important California rental housing law with no replacement and no plan to address affordable and middle-class housing or deal with the problem of increasing homelessness on our streets.

PROP 10 WILL REDUCE AFFORDABLE AND MIDDLE-CLASS HOUSING.

• Independent academic experts from Stanford, UC Berkeley and USC all agree these policies will discourage new construction and reduce availability of affordable and middle-class housing – and drive up rents for many Californians.

PROP 10 WILL DRIVE UP RENTAL PRICES.

• Prop 10 will cause property owners to take rental units off the market in favor of vacation listing services like AirBnB, which means more AirBnBs in our communities and less affordable housing for renters – further driving up housing costs.

PROP 10 WILL ELIMINATE HOMEOWNER PROTECTIONS.

• Prop 10 eliminates protections for homeowners and allows regulators to tell single-family homeowners how much they can charge to rent out a single room in their homes. Homeowners will be subject to regulations and price controls enacted by unelected boards.

PROP 10 WILL STICK TAXPAYERS WITH LEGAL BILLS.

• Prop 10 contains a hidden loophole requiring taxpayers to pay the initiative supporters’ legal bills for participating in certain lawsuits, even if they lose and even if their position is frivolous. This blank check benefits lawyers and puts taxpayers on the hook for limitless legal bills.

PROP 10 WILL REDUCE HOME VALUES.

• The policies authorized by this initiative have been shown to reduce property values by more than 10%, according to MIT researchers, and significantly restricts what single-family homeowners can do with their homes. The average California homeowner could lose $60,000 in the value of his or her home if this initiative passes.

PROP 10 IS OPPOSED BY A BROAD, BIPARTISAN COALITION.

• Prop 10 is opposed by Veterans of Foreign Wars, Dept. of California, the California Council for Affordable Housing, Leading Age California, California NAACP, both gubernatorial candidates, Democrat Gavin Newsom and Republican John Cox, and dozens of other organizations who agree this initiative will make our housing crisis worse.

LEARN MORE ABOUT WHY PROP 10 IS BAD FOR:

• Homeowners
• Seniors
• Veterans
• The Homelessness Crisis