Reasons Are Not Required With 30-Day Notices

Question: I own a four-plex in Long Beach that is rundown. I want to rehabilitate the units one at a time to raise the value of the property. Can I give the tenants 30-day notices to move? Do I need to give them the reasons why I am fixing up the building?

Answer: Under California law, you are required to give the tenants 30-day written notices to move but you don’t have to specify the reasons. There is a proposal pending in Sacramento (SB 1403) authored by state Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Los Angeles) to change the state’s 30-day notice requirement to 60 days, which is the current requirement under a pilot project in effect in L.A., Santa Monica and West Hollywood.

All of Los Angeles Is Covered by Rent Control

Q: I am considering buying a three-to four-unit apartment building in the Los Angeles area, preferably in the 90008, 90016, 90019 or 90056 ZIP Code areas. Are any of these areas covered by rent control?

A: All of these areas are covered by rent control. All ZIP Codes that start out with 900 are located in the city of Los Angeles in addition to several other ZIP Codes. For instance, Venice, 90291; and Pacific Palisades, 90272; also are parts of Los Angeles, as is North Hollywood, 91608.

Other cities in Los Angeles County that have municipal rent-control laws include Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and West Hollywood. Although these cities all have rent control, there are a variety of exemptions from the laws in the different cities.

For example, Santa Monica duplexes and triplexes are exempt. In Los Angeles, new construction is exempt. For other exemptions, check with each city individually.

Expect Hikes Until Rent Catches Up to the Market

Q: I live in a rent-controlled apartment in Los Angeles. Since I moved in when rents were relatively low, the landlord always raises my rent by the maximum allowable 3%. Newer tenants receive no such rent increases, presumably because they already are paying close to the market rents. Is it legal for the landlord to raise the rents on some apartments but not on others?

A: It is legal for the landlord to raise rents on some apartments and not others, even under rent control.

Rent control limits the maximum amounts of annual cost-of-living rent increases (3% under Los Angeles rent control).

It does not require owners to raise rents by 3%, or by any other amount, and it does not require owners to raise all rents equally or at the same time.

If your apartment rent is significantly lower than the market rents on similar apartments, you probably can expect to continue getting those annual 3% rent increase notices until your rent catches up with the market.

L.A. Agency Handles Rent-Control Queries

Q: My grandmother died recently, and now I find myself 20% owner of a rent-controlled apartment building in Playa del Rey. My cousins and I (the new owners) live in three different states, and we have numerous questions about rent control. Where can we go for rent-control information?

A: You can get information about the Los Angeles rent-control law from the Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Division of the Los Angeles Housing Department. Reaching them by phone at (213) 367-9269 can be difficult. You also can visit or write to LARSD at 111 N. Hope St., Los Angeles 90012.

How Secession Would Affect Rent Control

Q: I have lived in a rent-controlled apartment in Woodland Hills for the last 31 years. Since the talk of splitting up the San Fernando Valley from the city of Los Angeles, the owners are not renewing any leases, which we have always had.

Now they are putting everybody on month-to-month rental agreements.

Is this a sign that rent control isn’t going to be in effect any more?

A: If there is a new Valley city, all of the laws from Los Angeles will initially carry over and remain in effect in the new city, including rent control.

The new city will elect its own city council and mayor, who subsequently will determine whether or not they want to continue with rent control in its present form, if at all.

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Postema is the editor of Apartment Age magazine, a publication of AAGLA, an apartment owners’ service group. E-mail questions on any aspect of apartment living to AptlifeAAGLA@aol.com, c/o Kevin Postema, or mail to AAGLA, c/o Kevin Postema, 621 S. Westmoreland Ave., Los Angeles, California 90005.