Midmonth rent increase not due until the next month

Question: Last year, you discussed midmonth rent hikes and said they were legal. We recently got one, which became effective on May 12. On May 1, we paid the regular amount, but on May 13 we got a three-day pay or quit notice based on the unpaid increase in rent for the balance of the month. Is this legal?

Answer: It is not legal. According to Section 1947 of the California Civil Code, and as mentioned in the July 11, 2004, column that you refer to, the rent due on May 1 was due at the old rate. According to you, it was paid in full. Therefore, no pay or quit notice can be legally served.

The increased portion of the rent for the period from May 12-31 is not due until June 1, when you should pay the new full June rent plus the prorated rent for May 12-31. If the landlord tries to evict you, he should lose his case.

Relocation fees decided by city

Question: I own a two-bedroom house in Monrovia, and I read in your Feb. 6 column about a new owner who wanted to move into her house but was required to pay relocation fees to the tenant. My husband has passed away, and I now want to move back into this house, which has been rented out for three years. Am I required to pay the tenant $8,000 in relocation fees?

Answer: You are not. The article to which you refer dealt with a rent-controlled property in Los Angeles. There is no rent control in Monrovia, and there are no local provisions that require the payment of relocation fees to tenants. You are required to give the tenants a 60-day notice to move since they have lived in the house for more than one year. If the tenants had lived in the house for less than one year, you would only be required to give them a 30-day notice.

Interest rates for security deposits

Question: In a 2003 column, you gave the rates for interest on security deposits under the Los Angeles rent control law. Since I am moving out of my apartment this year, I need to know the rates for 2004 and 2005. Can you help?

Answer: Interest is due on a rent-controlled apartment deposit in the city of Los Angeles, with a one-year minimum tenancy, at the following rates: 5% from Dec. 6, 1990 (when the law became effective) through Dec. 31, 2000; 2% for 2001; 0% for 2002; 1% for 2003; 0.26% for 2004; and 1.21% for 2005. The interest is computed annually on the deposit and is computed as simple interest, not compound. It also is computed on all deposits held by the landlord, no matter how they are labeled, which includes any deposit that you may have made toward the last month’s rent.

For more information, go to www.lacity.org/lahd/secdep.pdf.

Can ex ‘inherit’

an apartment?

Question: I have lived in a rent-controlled apartment in Santa Monica since July 1997. Shortly after I moved in, I started dating a guy, who moved into the apartment several months later.

I am moving to another city, and my now ex-boyfriend wants to keep the apartment, but he’s not on the lease. What does he need to do to “inherit” the apartment? Can the landlord increase the rent?

Answer: Since he is not an original tenant, the owner has two possible options. He may be able to evict your former boyfriend as an unlawful subtenant. Or he can raise the rent to its market value -- unless the ex is on the lease (and you already said he isn’t) or the owner accepted rent from him in the past.

For a rent increase, the owner must give the tenant a 30-day notice, unless it is for more than 10% of the rent. In that case, a 60-day notice is required.

Postema is the editor of Apartment Age magazine. E-mail your 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, CA 90005.