Will Father’s Lease Give Tenant Rights to Unit?
QUESTION: I have lived in my apartment in Studio City for nine years now. The apartment was originally leased to my father, but we only shared it for a year before he moved out.
Since we were good friends with the landlord, I never worried that the lease was not in my name. Of course, the landlord knew that I lived there alone and I sent him the rent checks every month.
Now for the fun part. The building was sold last summer and the new owner, in a letter introducing himself, let me know that he would give me a new rental agreement “sometime soon.” After a couple of months, I asked him about the agreement. It seemed to me as if it wasn’t important to him.
Now, I don’t want to be a pest but I’m worried that the lack of an agreement could lead to trouble. My primary concern is the rent. Could he raise the rent more than the 4% it has been raised in the past? Could he ask me to leave? Or, do I have an “informal contract,” since he has accepted my personal checks for the last seven to eight months?
ANSWER: As a nine-year resident, your new landlord could not prove that you are not legally a tenant under an “implied” agreement.
If the property is rent controlled, and from your letter it sounds like it is, the landlord can only evict for “just cause,” as defined by the law.
Of course, the rent hike limits of the law apply to your home if it is rent controlled. Don’t get excited if the landlord raises the rent by 5%, however. That’s the legal limit from now until at least July 1, 1991, at which time it may change.
Your implied rental agreement carried forward with the sale to the new owner. The terms of that agreement are effective unless or until your new owner gives you a new agreement. If he does, it cannot alter the monetary terms of your implied agreement.
Landlord Takes Out Massage Shower Head
Q: I rent an apartment in Playa del Rey. My landlord came over last week and installed some sort of water-saver shower head. He said the law requires him to install it and if I don’t use it, he will be fined.
I would prefer to continue to use my shower-massage shower head for better water pressure and to have a choice of water flow. Can you tell me what law my landlord is referring to and what it specifically requires?
A: As a part of the city of Los Angeles, Playa del Rey is covered by its April 26, 1988, water conservation law, the Water Conservation Ordinance To Reduce Sewer Flows. It requires landlords to install water-saving shower heads (3 gallons per minute) and toilet water displacement devices (displacing at least one-half gallon of water per flush).
The ordinance also provides for “fines” for non-complying landlords. The fines are levied in the form of 10% surcharges per billing period. The surcharges continue, and escalate up to 100%, until compliance is attained.
While we would all like to use as much water as we want to, Southern California’s four-year drought will not permit us to do so.
There may be some good news in all this, however. Your shower-massage shower head may comply with the city’s water-saving law. Many do. Check with the Department of Water and Power at (213) 481-5800 to find out if yours does.
Manager Intruded While Tenant Away
Q: If I pay my rent for my San Bernardino apartment in advance for eight months (all at one time), and leave the premises for a vacation in the African or Brazilian jungles, or leave because of having to return to court to be incarcerated for three to five months, does the owner or manager have the right to enter my apartment on a non-emergency basis and remove my personal belongings?
If a serious emergency had occurred on the premises during my absence, the landlord would have been notified. Since all of this did happen to me, I am considering a Small Claims Court action. Do I have a case?
A: Your absence gave the landlord no right to enter your apartment and remove your personal belongings from your home when the rent was all paid up. Barring some kind of a court order, your landlord was way out of line.
While your landlord may have been way out of line, you may not have a cause for substantial damages if possession of your apartment and property were returned. Your probably have a claim for trespass, which would entitle you to something.
Does Tenant Have Parking Space Rights?
Q: We have two adjoining lots in Los Angeles with apartments on each lot. We are planning to sell one lot, but there is a hitch. A tenant from the other side is using one of the garages on the side we want to sell. Can we move the tenant to an uncovered parking space on his side of the property?
Incidentally, we are under L.A. city’s rent control law, and there is no mention of parking in our rental agreement with the tenant. Does that matter?
A: Under the L.A. rent law you may switch the tenant’s parking arrangements or eliminate them altogether. You must, however, reduce the rent by an amount commensurate with the value of the service you are diminishing. A garage is probably worth somewhat more than an uncovered parking space.
You should first try to negotiate a reasonable compromise with your tenant. If that fails, you may wind up at the city’s Rent Stabilization Division, where the city will determine a value for the parking space. The lack of any mention of the parking in your rental agreement will probably not matter, since the tenant has the use of it, and, as we all know, “Possession is nine-tenths of the law.”
Postema is the editor of Apartment Age Magazine, a publication of the Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles, an apartment owners’ service group. Mail your question on any aspect of apartment living to “Rentformation,” Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles, 621 S. Westmoreland Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. 90005-3995.
