Older duplexes rent controlled in L.A.

Question: I have lived in the upstairs unit of my L.A. duplex for 30 years. It has never been rented. Is there an exemption from rent control for my unit if I decide to lease it out?

Answer: The unit will be covered by the rent control ordinance if you lease it out. Since the duplex is 30 years old, it does not qualify for the city’s new construction exemption, which covers residential rentals issued their first Certificate of Occupancy after Oct. 1, 1978. And it does not qualify for the city’s luxury exemption because it had to be rented at specific rates at the time the ordinance was passed.

Duplexes have always fallen under the ordinance. The original ordinance did exempt two single-family homes on a single lot but never duplexes. The ordinance also now covers single-family rentals if there are two or more on a lot.

Most condos that are leased out are now exempt from the rental-rate aspects of the ordinance (eviction controls still apply) as a result of the state Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act. However, if a tenant lived in a rental condo before the law was passed in 1995, he or she would still be covered by rent control for both rent-hike and eviction purposes.

The good news is that you can charge market rates if you lease it out. Thereafter, L.A. rent-control limits will apply.

Rent hikes: How high can you go?

Question: When an apartment building changes hands, how much can the new owner raise the rent?

Answer: That depends on where the building is located and whether the tenants have leases or month-to-month rental agreements.

In a building in a city without a rent-control ordinance, and with tenants not on leases, rents can be increased to market levels with 30-day notices, unless the hikes exceed 10% (including previous increases within a 12-month period). If the increases, or combined increases, exceed 10%, state law requires 60-day notices.

In a rent-controlled building, rents cannot be increased just because there is a new owner. Rather, the buyer will have to abide by the rent-control rules of the city in which the property is located. Cities in Los Angeles County that have such ordinances include Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Santa Monica and West Hollywood. Call the municipality in which the building is located for specifics, as the ordinances vary from city to city.

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Kevin Postema, editor of Apartment Age magazine, can be reached at Apartment Age, 621 S. Westmoreland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90005. Or e-mail him at aptlifeaagla@aol.com.