Top Aide Defends Reagans’ Bel-Air Home Lease Plan

President Reagan’s chief of staff Thursday defended the complicated lease arrangement under which the President and his wife will occupy a Bel-Air mansion when they move out of the White House.

Terms of the lease arrangement have been kept secret, but the prevailing rate for such houses--the Reagans’ is 6,500 square feet--is in the vicinity of $15,000 a month, according to a real estate expert.

The house--a three-bedroom, six-bath home that has a heated swimming pool and three-car garage--was purchased by a group of friends of the Reagans, with the intention of making it available to the President and Mrs. Reagan as their post-White House residence. The White House has maintained that because the arrangement does not take effect until the President leaves office, it need not make the terms public.

Baker Explains Plan

White House Chief of Staff Howard H. Baker Jr., chatting with reporters while the Reagans spend a 10-day Easter holiday at their ranch northwest of here, denied that the arrangement “just doesn’t look right.”

“The White House, the President and the First Lady went to great lengths to make sure that this was an arms-length transaction; that there was a full appraisal of the rental price of this property; that all of the I’s were dotted and the T’s were crossed,” he said.

He added: “I think the President and the First Lady have handled this in precisely the right way and really beyond any legitimate criticism of the transaction.”

He said that the First Family is not upset by the questions being asked, and said, “After eight years, they’ve come to understand that that occurs and . . . while they understand it, they may not like it, but they’re not angry about it.”

White House Mum

The White House has been particularly closemouthed about the arrangement, answering questions only when pressed.

On Wednesday, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said in a written statement that the Reagans have signed a three-year lease, with an option to re-lease or purchase the home. It is located at 668 St. Cloud Road.

“This lease allows them to make further decisions about the home once the President is out of office and has exact knowledge of the assets and income in his blind trust,” Fitzwater said. That trust was set up when he took office on Jan. 20, 1981.

The lease on the home began on March 1 and, according to Fitzwater, the residence is likely to be ready for the Reagans at the end of the year. Mrs. Reagan is known to have begun work with a decorator, redesigning the interior.

Fitzwater said that the monthly lease was negotiated between representatives of the Reagans and representatives of the owners, believed to be a group of friends of the Reagans who have long been their most powerful political backers. The names of the group’s members have not been made public.

Fitzwater also said that the arrangement was based on a fair market value estimate provided by two independent appraisers.