Rent Control in Los Angeles

Allan David Heskin (“Rather Than Help the Landlords, Make Rent Laws Help the Renters,” Op-Ed Page, Aug. 29) has done a lot of work collecting statistics to support his idea that landlords are overcharging their tenants. It’s easy for him to draw this conclusion from his ivory tower at UCLA, but my experience as a property owner gives me a different perspective.

Why were 4,000 units demolished last year? As the owner of older buildings, I can surmise that it was because the landlords had to pay too much to keep them habitable and safe. The lower-level rents just can’t cover the costs that escalate each year. Security improvements, including lighting, pest control, painting, etc., are exorbitant. It’s a nightmare to find an insurance company who will cover these older buildings. My rates went up $6,000 in one year, and I’m sure they won’t stop there. In short, as these older buildings need to be updated, the landlord needs to look to his rents to pay for the job.

Many of these buildings’ tenants have been there for years, and I am reticent to raise their rents sky-high and perhaps push them out of their homes. However, when an apartment does become vacant, I see no reason to keep it below market value for the reasons he states. To force landlords to do that would force them to eventually sell their buildings because of inability to keep them up.

The government has already tied the hands of property owners (i.e., the whole process of eviction hamstrings them). I protest that I am not “exploiting” the situation, as he asserts, but simply trying to provide good housing for people and a decent livelihood for myself.

JUDY DAVIDSON

Los Angeles