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Question:

I plan on renovating my building, which is under rent control for the city of Los Angeles. Is it proper grounds to request that my tenants vacate? The building is really dilapidated and this renovation is quite necessary. I need to upgrade all the plumbing, electrical and roofing. The heating system must be replaced in addition to painting and replacing old appliances. This work cannot be performed with tenants in possession.

Answer:

Incredulously, that is not grounds for eviction for the City of Los Angeles. The City, by its actions, is encouraging buildings to become degraded. You can ask the tenants to leave for a temporary period of time. You would have to apply under the program entitled, “Tenant Habitability Plan”. You would have to pay for your tenants to be relocated. This would entail paying for alternate housing and other accommodations. After the tenants return, you would have to apply for a capital improvement rent increase. This is based on the cost of your renovation, amortized over a five-year period and divided between the units in the building. There is limitation to the amount of this increase. Based on these criteria, there is not an economic incentive for a landlord to upgrade.

Author
~Dennis Block: Source

This entry was posted on Friday, February 22nd, 2008 at 5:49 pm and is filed under Questions & Answers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.