Apartment Owner’s Expenses, Returns

Re “Santa Ana Names Major Landlord in 95-Count Complaint” story (March 9):

As another landlord in Santa Ana, I agree that rentals must be maintained in a sanitary and habitable condition and do not condone “slumlord” operations.

However, I feel that a few general comments are in order.

Frequently, it is not the landlord who neglects the property. He may pour a third to a half of the gross rent into constantly needed repairs caused by tenant neglect and abuse. In the areas you mention, this is the rule, not the exception.

The article refers to landlords who “ . . . charge high rents to Latino tenants who may be in the country illegally and are afraid to complain for fear of deportation.” Would you have the landlord discriminate against Latinos or demand to have them prove that they are here legally?

You also say, “Rents are high for the area”; the range of $375 for a one-bedroom apartment to $500 for one with two bedrooms you quote seems typical for Santa Ana and therefore is not high but moderate. Would you have a seller charge less than the buyer is willing to pay? If the seller charges too much, he will have vacancies and will lower rents to avoid vacancies.

Would you have the landlord subsidize the Latinos, seniors or any other group from his own pocket instead of having the community face the responsibility?

You may note a correlation to the situation in which apartment owners are not allowed to convert to condominiums because tenants would be hurt in having to find other rentals, presumably at higher rates. That means that the burden of subsidizing the tenant is shifted from the community to a particular individual. It also means that someone who has earned enough to buy a condominium is being discriminated against by being denied.

DEIGH D. BOYD

Santa Ana