2 sides to rent control
In “Two Sides of a Coin,” Jan. 14, the most important consideration for policy makers seems to have been lost: Rent-control laws cause a shortage of rental housing, which in turn causes higher rents.
Because of the hostile legal environment, building owners have done condo conversions, torn down apartments in favor of less-regulated types of property and used the apartments to house their own families. All of this results in a reduced supply of rental housing.
For similar reasons, investors have been unwilling to pay for new rental housing unless rents or subsidies are sky high.
The article mentions two other cities that have even higher housing costs: New York and San Francisco. They also have a long history of rent control. The magic of bureaucracy just doesn’t seem to be able to create low rents in any city.
RICK SMETS
West Hollywood
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Every article I’ve read on the pros and cons of rent control fails to identify what I have seen as the worst effect of it: the potential home buyer who puts off buying indefinitely because of the “great deal” they are getting on rent.
I’ve seen renters miss 15 years of housing gains in Los Angeles, but they’re sure proud of how low their rent is. As these people brag about their $600-a-month two-bedroom in West Hollywood, I only feel sorry for them.
BROCK HARRIS
Burbank
The writer is a real estate agent.
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It just isn’t true that it is difficult to evict people in rent-controlled apartments. It is amazingly easy -- especially because 95% of tenant-defendants have no lawyer. It usually takes me about 45 days from notice to eviction. And I do a lot of them.
JACK L. SCHWARTZ
Santa Monica
The writer is an attorney.
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Though I understand the frustration of some landlords, this is what my rent-controlled building is like: The maintenance phone number goes directly to voice mail, and the mail box is always full. It took two days for a leak to be fixed, and the same leak keeps recurring. The owner is unsympathetic to any tenant complaints or concerns. The quality of the tenants has greatly declined in the last few years.
I have lived here for almost 10 years. If I could move, I would have done so already.
I love rent control on one hand, and hate it on the other. I am trapped here because I can’t afford to pay $400 more per month. My solution is to move out of L.A. altogether, which I am going to do as soon as both of my kids (currently in college) move out.
SANDRA COURSER
Sherman Oaks
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The articles omitted one major drawback about Los Angeles rent control to both renters and landlords. As the law is currently written, a landlord and a tenant cannot enter into an agreement to upgrade an apartment, such as a new carpet, in exchange for a rent increase that is higher than that allowable by the Rent Stabilization Ordinance. Although such an agreement could benefit both parties, it is currently illegal. This seems to go against common sense. Allowing this to occur could go a long way to encourage cooperation between landlords and tenants.
DANIEL TENENBAUM
Los Angeles
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The city of Los Angeles rents-paid figures are quite misleading. Surveys that report average rents are based on apartment complexes of 100 or more units. Entities that report such averages have no idea what the real average rents are in smaller, rent-controlled apartment buildings. That is even the case for recently vacated apartments in many neighborhoods.
VICTOR N. VIERECK
Valley Village
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The landlord side of the report was right on the money; in fact, it didn’t go far enough to describe the egregious nature of the rent control ordinances.
Too many units are rented out to one or two adults, but before long, several more adults are brought in. Too many units are rented out to a family of four, but soon, two more adults show up with six more kids. They abuse the premises and tax the utilities. When given a three-day notice, they complain to Housing Code Enforcement and to the health department, alleging the landlord failed to maintain the premises, when it is clear that the problem is overcrowding and hygiene, not habitability.
Some bring in impermissible pets and, when given a three-day notice to remove the pet, they phony-up a “prescription” classifying Fluffy as a “working dog” for which the landlord has no recourse and cannot even charge a pet deposit.
When the landlord finally has a solid case to bring an [eviction] action, the tenants go to Bet Tzedek or Legal Aid, who overzealously represent the “indigent” tenants by propounding mountains of irrelevant discovery and demanding jury trials (when the amount of unpaid rent at issue is a mere $500), further costing the landlord money, and all the while the tenants don’t pay rent for months. Between Housing and the pro bono lawyers, these tenants have learned how to work the system against the landlords.
Is it any wonder that landlords are removing units from the housing market by converting them to condos?
STEPHANY YABLOW
North Hollywood
The writer is an attorney.
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Interesting. The only time lawyer Harold Greenberg used the word “home” was in the last paragraph, “a tenant without a landlord is homeless.”
As a lifetime renter, where I live is home.
Landlords don’t like to think of their investments as someone’s home.
Landlords bellyache like any corporation to nurse their bottom line, but let’s face the truth: They have had a feeding frenzy for years and their profits have surged. I don’t buy their pain. Landlords may own it, but I live there. I am human too. Not just some easy investment cash cow.
BARRY CULLISON
Sherman Oaks
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Why are rents high in Los Angeles County? Mainly due to the high real estate prices.
However, consider the abuse by unscrupulous renters; the nonpayment of rents, destruction of the property causing landlords to repair or replace appliances, broken doors, sinks, windows, flooring, door and mailbox locks, etc., after the property is vacated.
All of these things cause landlords to raise rents to recoup their losses.
Judges in most cases are sympathetic to renters and disallow many damages. Renters know that the law favors them. The law may allow a renter to stay in a rental up to six months without paying rent.
Landlords are common folks like you and me seeking a fair return on their investment. Most landlords are interested in quality of life for their tenants.
If tenants want rents to stabilize, legislation has to be put in place to stop the abuse by unscrupulous tenants who take advantage of the loopholes in the law. Judges have to get tough with tenants who refuse to pay their rent and hold them responsible for damages done to rental property. If no action is taken by the Legislature, rents are going to rocket out of control.
EMILIO MELENDEZ
LILLIAN MELENDEZ
Diamond Bar
