Can Owner Charge for New Carpet?

QUESTION: I live in Pasadena and I am writing on behalf of my 78-year-old neighbor. She is a wonderful lady who has lived in this complex for over 25 years. Her problem is with the carpet in her apartment, which was installed when the building was constructed.

She has had to make numerous repairs over the years to this torn and tattered carpet. Tape currently holds the overwhelming majority of the carpet together. Believe me, this carpet has seen its days.

Over the past couple of months the neighbor has made repeated verbal requests to the owner of the building to replace the carpet in her unit.

Last week, the manager came around to notify us tenants of our upcoming yearly rent increases. She told our neighbor that she had two choices on the carpet issue. She could either keep her existing carpet and get no rent increase, or she could get new carpet and pay a $30 monthly rent increase.

Here are my questions. Is there any kind of state or local law requiring apartment owners to replace items like carpet that have worn out due to age? If so, how does she proceed? If not, can the owner legally charge her a “permanent” rent increase to pay for new carpeting?

ANSWER: Your neighbor’s problem sounds like one that can’t be swept under the rug, both figuratively and literally, for much longer. Her best bet is to go ahead and pay the $30-a-month rent increase for new carpeting.

From your letter, it sounds as if the carpet is torn up enough so that your neighbor could call the Pasadena Health Department and get the owner cited for an unsafe condition. Mel Lim, the city’s environmental health coordinator, is the head of the department and he can be reached by phone at (818) 405-4390.

Lim said, “It sounds like something for which we would cite the owner. Often, we get calls form tenants wanting us to cite owners to get their carpet cleaned. We don’t do that. We do cite for true health/safety problems like this one.”

While the owner is required to replace the carpet because it represents a health or safety problem, he is not required to replace it because of its age. He can raise the rent to pay for it.

He is allowed to raise the rent with a 30-day notice. The amount of such a rent increase is not tied to the cost of the carpet. As such, he could raise the rent by more than $30 a month.

I recommend against getting the owner cited and trying to weave your way through the legal system to get new carpet. It could cost you more in the end.

Rent Can Be Due at Landlord’s Option

Q: I recently moved out of a two-bedroom apartment building in Los Angeles that is about five years old. My rent was due on the first of each month with a four-day grace period.

In my new North Hollywood apartment the rent is due on the 15th of the month with no grace period allowed. I thought rent was supposed to be paid on the first of the month. Is it? I also thought that the landlord had to allow you a grace period. Does he? Does the fact that the building is older and rent-controlled have anything to do with it?

A: As you say in your letter, a five-year-old apartment building is not rent controlled. (New construction, any building issued a certificate of occupancy after Oct. 1, 1978, is exempt in Los Angeles.) That, however, does not affect your situation.

Rent due dates are not covered by state or local law. They can fall on any day of the month. (See next answer for more.) The owner also has the option of changing the due date with a 30-day notice of change of terms of tenancy.

For instance, he could change the due date from the 15th to the first of the month and pro-rate the rent for the transition period.

There are also no grace period requirements under state or local law for apartment owners. While many owners allow such grace periods, they are not required to do so.

Late Fee Legal but Not If It Has No Limit

Q: Is it fair for the owner of the Hawthorne apartment building in which we live to charge us late fees of $10 a day when we don’t pay the rent on the first of the month? The monthly rent is $650, if that matters. I get paid on the third of the month so the rent costs me an extra $20 a month in late fees. Is that too much? Is there anything I can do?

A: While there are no hard and fast rules on late fees, the courts require that they be reasonable. Of course, the concept of what is “reasonable” is always the subject of debate. While the courts have created some guidelines on late fees, they don’t always agree among themselves on them either.

Most courts consider late fees of 10% of the monthly rent reasonable. Some think they should not exceed 5 3/4% of the rent. In your situation that ranges between $65 and $37.38, both of which exceed $20.

However, a “daily” late fee, if unlimited, is an illegal penalty, since it could amount to an infinite number. It cannot be computed and collected in that way.)

As we said in the answer to the previous question, grace periods are not required under state or local law. Thus, rent due on the first of the month is late on the second, unless the first falls on the weekend or on a holiday. In that situation the rent falls due on the next business day, even though the due date is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.