Council Backs Halt in Quake Eviction Law

With the rare backing of both tenant and landlord groups, the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday tentatively approved a six-month moratorium on any tenant evictions brought about by stepped-up enforcement of the city’s earthquake safety law.

After a prolonged debate, including warnings that their action could weaken the 5-year-old seismic safety ordinance, council members agreed to continue enforcing the law. But they added a condition that prohibits landlords from suddenly ordering tenants out so that rehabilitation work can be done--a controversial feature of the original law.

That 1981 earthquake safety law requires owners of unreinforced masonry buildings to install anchors as a means of strengthening building walls, ceilings and floors to better withstand a major temblor. But when landlords began complying with tougher standards called for after the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, the number of tenants who were evicted jumped sharply.

Protection Seen

“We think tenants are now going to be protected from what could have been a devastating effect from enforcement of the seismic safety ordinance,” said Michael Bodaken, an attorney with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, after the council vote.

Stephen L. Melnyck of the Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles, whose 26,000 members include landlords and managers, agreed and applauded the moratorium as a needed reprieve to “fine tune” the seismic safety law.

“Let’s see where we’re going,” Melnyck said. “This ousting of tenants and the demolition of buildings were happening too fast. It was getting too scary.”

Under the ordinance, which is expected to win final council approval next month, the moratorium on evictions would protect tenants who are evicted after Nov. 19, 1986--the date when the first public hearing was held on a proposed moratorium.

During the moratorium, the Community Development Department and the Department of Building and Safety would join other city agencies in studying what effect the earthquake safety ordinance is having on low- and moderate-income tenants, how much the rehabilitation work is actually costing landlords and what type of alternative financing may be available to help property owners pay for the needed work.

Another provision would provide relocation benefits for tenants eventually evicted as a result of demolition or major rehabilitation on their homes.

The restriction on evictions will not prevent the Building and Safety Department from continuing to notify property owners to comply with the earthquake ordinance. Owners, however, are given three years to make their buildings safe once they are notified by the department and must apply for permits to install the required anchors.

City officials have discretion in granting permits or citing owners for seismic improvements. And Building and Safety officials have said that most seismic work costs less than $10,000 per apartment and can be done with tenants in place.

Require Upgrading

In all, 7,792 buildings--including 1,400 residential structures--will require upgrading under the seismic ordinance, and as of Nov. 13, 4,900 compliance orders had been issued for rehabilitation work, according to city officials.

Barbara Zeidman, director of the Community Development Department’s Rent Stabilization Division, said that as many as 34,000 apartments in low-income areas are affected by the building safety requirement and that evictions have tripled over the last year since the city stepped up its enforcement campaign.

Zeidman voiced concern that poor people were losing their homes because landlords and developers found it more profitable to demolish older housing and replace it with higher-density, more expensive apartments. Those evictions would be temporarily stopped under the new ordinance, Zeidman said.

Concern Voiced

Building and Safety Department officials had expressed concern that alterations in the law could weaken it. In addition, some council members, including Hal Bernson and Zev Yaroslavsky, warned that suspending enforcement of the law could endanger tenants if a major earthquake should hit Los Angeles during the six-month ban.

“Let’s not play Russian roulette with the safety of our citizens,” said Bernson, who sponsored the city’s seismic safety law.

Bernson and Yaroslavsky, however, were persuaded to join their colleagues in an 11-0 vote to approve the moratorium after receiving assurances that the law would still be enforced while tenants are protected. Councilmen Marvin Braude and Joel Wachs were absent, with two other seats on the council currently vacant.