AAGLA – Renters Alliance

County Moratorium Continues Low-Income Tenant Protections Through December

November 27, 2022July 5, 2024 Mark Elliot AAGLA, LA County eviction moratorium

Update for tenants suffering COVID-related financial impact: the County Board of Supervisors has amended the county’s moratorium to continue eviction protections for low-income tenants through December. A court in October had enjoined the county from enforcing protection related to nonpayment of rent, but the county subsequently amended the moratorium in mid-November to address the court’s concern. Protection against eviction is still in effect and will be through December. Let’s look at what it means for tenants.

Commentary

Property Maintenance in the Era of COVID: Cleanliness Matters!

April 28, 2020July 31, 2020 Mark Elliot 212 S Reeves, AAGLA, CAA, Carole Hoffman, COVID-19, Essential management, maintenance

Residential rental dwellings must be fit for human habitation and free from ‘dilapidations,’ says California Civil Code section 1941. In part that means “all areas under control of the landlord, kept in every part clean, sanitary, and free from all accumulations of debris, filth, rubbish, garbage, rodents, and vermin.” Not a high bar! But not all landlords live up to that standard and during the COVID-19 pandemic we may see some landlords shirk their responsibility.

AAGLA certified apartment manager course

Commentary

Landlord Seminars: A Gear in the Organizing Machine

August 21, 2019August 10, 2023 Mark Elliot AAGLA, Apartment Investors Club

The great advantage that landlords have over tenants is professional organizing. They pay dues to support industry associations at the national, state, regional and local levels which then mobilize to beat back rent control in city halls. Associations find common cause with the constellation of landlord service providers, as I was reminded when I saw an upcoming seminar promoted by the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles. They work together to keep tenants perennially on the defensive.

Commentary

Trump Says Make Apartments Great Again

July 1, 2019November 8, 2023 Mark Elliot AAGLA, Donald Trump, housing

President Trump on the campaign trail famously told the nation: “We’re going to win so much, you’re going to be so sick and tired of winning!” After winning on the border wall and immigration now Trump sets his high energy focus on winning on affordable housing too. Executive order #13878 creates a new cabinet council to sort it all out. Not a moment too soon!

Commentary

No Excuses for Unprofessional Management

May 20, 2019April 27, 2020 Mark Elliot AAGLA, City of Los Angeles, NARPM, property management, Santa Monica, West Hollywood

We hear a lot about the proverbial ‘mom-and-pop’ owner-operators of rental housing. They are hailed as hard-working, upstanding community members have scrimped and saved simply to have a ’nest egg’ on which they can fall back in retirement. But anecdotal accounts suggest they are also our least-professional operators. Here’s a snapshot of those poor practices.

Analysis

Rent Stabilization Fallacy Exhibit A: 169 North Clark

March 25, 2019June 22, 2019 Mark Elliot 169 N Clark, AAGLA, Dan Yukelson

Local landlord Dan Yukelson recently circulated an email to city power brokers that claimed rent stabilization is harming mom-and-pop multifamily property owners in Beverly Hills. “These are ‘long time’ housing providers being forced out of business by over regulation and bad housing policies in Beverly Hills,” it says, and linked to several multifamily properties for sale. So we had a look. The listings don’t support specious claims but instead make the opposite argument: multifamily is still a money-minting business!

Commentary

Do Communists Celebrate Christmas?

January 6, 2019September 17, 2020 Mark Elliot AAGLA, Communism, Dan Yukelson, Julian Gold, Socialism

Vice-Mayor John Mirisch posted this rhetorical question on Instagram: Do Communists celebrate Christmas? “The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles evidently thinks so,” he said. “They sent our mayor a ‘present’ equating our efforts to craft a rent stabilization ordinance with Communism.” This ‘red scare’ tactic is all the more ironic because it invokes religion — an anathema to communists!

News

Beverly Hills City Council Endorses Prop 10

September 20, 2018June 9, 2019 Mark Elliot AAGLA, Affordable Housing Act, John Mirisch, Lester Friedman, Proposition 10

Beverly Hills City Council has endorsed Proposition 10 for the November ballot. If passed by voters, Proposition 10 would enact the Affordable Housing Act and thereby repeal the state’s Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act. That legislation was Sacramento’s “gift to landlords” as one said because it ties the hands of any city that has enacted rent control. Our city’s endorsement is a statement of support for local control and self-determination. Indeed City Council voted unanimously to endorse Prop 10!

AAGLA vs Beverly Hills federal complaint

News

Landlords File Federal Lawsuit to Invalidate Registry

August 10, 2018June 22, 2019 Mark Elliot AAGLA, Dan Yukelson, landlords, Orit Blau, rental unit registration

Beverly Hills landlords never liked the city’s rental unit registry. They fought tooth-and-nail against this ledger of landlords, properties and tenancies because this must-have rent-stabilization tool would hold landlords accountable to the law. Last year the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles brought a Superior Court lawsuit to tank it. Now they are back again with their federal case and a new local landlord plaintiff.

Commentary

AAGLA Sees Ghosts in Prop 10’s Affordable Housing Act

May 29, 2018February 28, 2021 Mark Elliot AAGLA, Affordable Housing Act, Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act, Dan Yukelson

Last year Beverly Hills landlords saw their allowed annual rent increase drop from 10% to 3% and a city-imposed relocation fee for involuntarily-terminated households. They lost the battle for the rental unit registry and all landlords were compelled to get a business license when about one-in-ten had avoided it. If 2017 was a tough year then 2018 looks only worse should the Affordable Housing Act ballot initiative win approval from voters in November.

Commentary

Giving Thanks for a Decent Property Manager [Updated]

November 24, 2017June 7, 2019 Mark Elliot AAGLA, property management, Santa Monica

I’m thankful for is the quiet enjoyment of my apartment with friends and family this Thanksgiving, but if my property management company conducted business unprofessionally it would be a different story. Here’s how Beverly Hills allows landlords to continue to perpetrate bad management practices even when we know there is a solution.

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Explainer

My Landlord is Asking for an Estoppel. Need I Sign It?

July 16, 2024July 29, 2024 Mark Elliot

An estoppel certificate is a legal document that simply establishes the terms and status of a rental agreement (or lease) for a third party like a prospective buyer. Typically a tenant is asked to complete an estoppel when purchase negotiations advance and that request may come from the current owner or an agent working on behalf of a prospective buyer. It is nothing to fear; it is a standard step in the sale of real property. In any case the lease or rental agreement may require the tenant to complete it. When presented with an estoppel to complete and sign you may have questions. Here is what you need to know.

Explainer