Evacuee aid won’t harm rents

Los Angeles city Councilman Bernard C. Parks assured landlords last week that a city program providing reduced rent to Gulf Coast hurricane evacuees will allow them to charge normal rents for the units when evacuees move out.

Part of the program calls for an adjustment to the city’s rent stabilization ordinance, allowing landlords to increase rent to fair market value when an evacuee leaves the apartment or when the program ends Dec. 31, 2006.

The council unanimously voted Dec. 2 to approve the Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita Temporary Relief Program, under which rents will be reduced by 25% of the fair market value through the end of 2006.

The city’s reduced-rent program allows evacuees to rent studio and one-bedroom apartments in eligible areas of Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Housing Department will report back to the City Council in six months to determine the program’s progress and how it can be implemented as part of the city’s permanent emergency management plan, Parks said at the news conference at City Hall.

The American Red Cross is paying for hotel rooms for 250 families who evacuated the Gulf Coast and settled in Los Angeles, but the agency will no longer receive reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency as of Jan. 7.

FEMA will provide $790 a month in housing assistance for up to 24 months to hurricane evacuees. The amount is based on the national average fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment.