Close Loophole in Rent Control, Council Asked

A “loophole” that has allowed landlords to escape rent control by making largely cosmetic changes to their property should be closed, Los Angeles’ top rent-control official told a City Council committee Friday.

That provision, rent stabilization director Barbara Zeidman said, has allowed more than 1,200 apartment units to be permanently decontrolled over the last 18 months--even though building improvements often amounted to “gold-plated doorknobs and crystal chandeliers.”

Zeidman’s recommendations came at a Government Operation Committee hearing that packed council chambers with a spirited, standing-room-only crowd of renters, landlords and city officials.

If the momentum for change exhibited Friday is sustained, the City Council in weeks to come is clearly going to face pressure to toughen the ordinance affecting 478,000 rental units in the city. The debate already is centered on how much stronger to make the ordinance.

Zeidman offered recommendations that she said would provide greater protection for tenants, while still allowing landlords to make reasonable income and assure that the city’s housing stock remains an attractive investment.

Advocates for the landlords said they probably would offer no opposition to the recommendations.

Activists Complained

But tenants’ activists complained that Zeidman’s recommendations do not go nearly far enough in protecting tenants. “You cannot merely tinker with a device in need of major overhaul and expect it to function well,” said Larry Gross, executive director for the Coalition for Economic Survival.

Objecting to the notion that the ordinance is “balanced,” Gross asked whether the ordinance was balanced for “tenants now in about 1,000 units living in anguish as they wait to see whether the city will allow their evictions for major rehabilitations so gentrifiers can raise $350 rents to $1,000.”

The battle line between renters and landlords is expected to be drawn at the issue of “vacancy decontrol”--the ability of a landlord to set rents at the market rate when a unit becomes vacant for any reason. Los Angeles now allows rent hikes in such circumstances. Cities with the most restrictive rent-control laws, such as Santa Monica and Berkeley, do not.

Zeidman, who opposes vacancy control, said she expected a close vote on the issue with the City Council, which has swung more in favor of renters in recent years. She said there is significant support for vacancy control on the council.

Provide Incentive

Zeidman said she expected no opposition to the elimination of the “substantial renovation” provision. Currently, a landlord may have his building permanently removed from rent control if he performs up to $10,000 in improvements for a single-room apartment and up to $17,000 for a four-room apartment. The provision was intended to provide an incentive to upgrade buildings, but in many cases the changes have been cosmetic, and have effectively forced tenants out.