empowerment – Renters Alliance

Beverly Hills Bar Association legal seminar

Our Recap of the Beverly Hills Bar Legal Seminar

November 17, 2019January 3, 2020 Mark Elliot Beverly Hills Bar Association, education, empowerment

The Beverly Hills Bar Association Barristers today organized a free landlord tenant legal seminar at the Roxbury Park community center. Billed as a ‘pro bono legal clinic’ the event was more a presentation of relevant rental housing regulations punctuated by by audience questions. For tenants with specific questions there were individual consultations. This was not a city event. However it was timely given the coming changes in state law that will affect tenants. Here’s the recap.

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Commentary

A Gentle Hand With Landlords Encourages Impunity

December 26, 2018September 20, 2022 Mark Elliot City of New York, empowerment, power imbalance

The New York Times today published another installment in its year-long series focused on predatory landlords and the damage they do to tenants. ‘Bad Landlords Dodge Full Bite of a Watchdog’ explains why recidivist property owners aren’t ever held accountable by City of New York. Lax enforcement, paltry penalties, and a bureaucracy insufficiently committed to protecting tenants is to blame. Sound familiar?

Commentary

Empowerment is Missing from Education Workshops

May 14, 2018July 5, 2024 Mark Elliot Community Education Workshops, empowerment, Nestor Otazu, Susan Healy Keene

City of Beverly Hills recently hosted Community Education Workshops for landlords and tenants. The purpose of this ’community education workshop’ was stated plainly on the flyer: to provide an “overview” of the rent stabilization program. It recapped recent changes to the rent stabilization ordinance and gave a heads-up about the next steps in the process. However what was not on the agenda was tenant empowerment.

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