Apartment Association Could See Partial Victory In Legal Challenge To Renter Protections
A legal challenge against two city of Los Angeles renter protections seems headed toward a resolution that would strike down one and leave the other in place.
LA County Superior Judge Mitchell Beckloff issued a tentative ruling in the case brought by the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles that suggests Beckloff will likely allow an ordinance requiring landlords to pay some tenants relocation assistance but will void an ordinance that set a monetary threshold for overdue rent that would have to be met before a landlord can start eviction proceedings, Courthouse News Service reported.
The relocation fee requirement dictates that landlords must pay relocation fees to tenants who, when faced with a rent increase exceeding a certain percentage of their total rent, elect to leave their unit. This regulation applies to all rental units, even those not covered by rent stabilization laws.
The eviction threshold sets a baseline for the amount of unpaid rent the tenant must owe before they can be evicted for just cause. That amount is one month of the fair-market rate according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is $1,747 for a one-bedroom unit, The Real Deal reported.
The renter protections were instituted earlier this year to take the place of those put in place earlier in the pandemic that expired around that time. AAGLA filed the suit in the spring.
“The last thing I want to waste money on is lawsuits, but all of our advocacy efforts just aren't resonating with the city council members [who are] completely ignoring the needs of small rental property owners,” AAGLA Executive Director Daniel Yukelson told Bisnow at the time.
