Temporary renter may end up costing landlord a bundle
Question: We own a duplex and live in one side of it. We are going to be out of town and want to rent out our unit for a few months to offset costs. I called rent control, and they said that we would be unable to stipulate that the renters have to move when we return if we rent the unit out for more than two months. Is this true? Is there a provision for vacation rentals in the Los Angeles rent control law?
Answer: There is no such provision in the L.A. rent law.
If you rent the unit for even one month to a tenant while you are out of town and then want to move back into it upon your return, you have to follow the procedure for an owner-occupancy eviction.
The procedure includes getting, filling out and filing a landlord declaration for owner occupancy with the Los Angeles Housing Department, getting approval back from the department, serving the tenant with a 60-day Notice to Quit and paying relocation assistance fees -- the amount of which could easily exceed any rents you may collect for the months you will be gone.
The minimum amount of relocation fees you must pay tenants in no-fault evictions is currently $6,810, and that doesn’t even take into account the cost of your housing during the eviction process.
Tenant flip-flops on giving notice
Question: My tenant gave me a written 30-day notice that she was going to move out of the apartment I rent to her. Now, she has changed her mind. Is this a cause for eviction? Should I accept rent from her?
Answer: Craig Mordoh, a real estate and eviction attorney based in Santa Monica, says: “You may enforce the notice from the tenant, but only if you do not take rent for a period beyond the day the 30-day notice is to expire.
The tenant may not withdraw the notice without the consent of the landlord, and acceptance of rent is deemed to be consent.”
Rent hike doesn’t merit relocate fee
Question: If our landlord increases the rent based on the L.A. rent-control ordinance, and we say that we can’t afford it and have to move out, are we entitled to relocation fees?
Answer: You are not entitled to relocation fees in this situation. They are paid only in what are known as no-fault evictions initiated by the landlord. These include evictions for things such as owner or resident manager move-in, or to demolish or permanently remove the unit from rental housing use, among others. Although you may be moving through no fault of your own -- because you can’t afford the higher rent -- the landlord is not initiating the eviction.
Interest payments on deposits limited
Question: I have lived in a rent-controlled apartment in Los Angeles for several years, and I have a question about the interest paid to tenants on security deposits held by owners. I just got an interest check from the owner for the first time, but he is telling me that there is a four-year statute of limitations on the payment of interest from previous years. Is this true?
Answer: The owner is wrong; however, from your perspective the news is still bad. California law does not provide a four-year statute of limitations on such payments. California Code of Civil Procedure section 340 actually provides a three-year statute of limitations on actions based upon statutory rights, which includes your situation.
Kevin Postema is the editor of Apartment Age magazine, a publication of the Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles. Write to aptlifeaagla@aol.com or Apartment Age, Attn: Kevin Postema, 621 S. Westmoreland Ave., L.A., CA 90005.
