A Message from AAGLA Executive Director: Deyenu – It’s Been Enough!
Having had the pleasure of celebrating the Passover holiday with my family in the not too distance past, as tradition holds, we once again celebrated the holiday with the singing of the Passover song (yes, just like Christmas, we Jews have our holiday music too!) “Dayenu.” (pronounced “die-ay-nu”). The word “dayenu” means approximately “it would have been enough,” or “it would have been sufficient,” or “it would have sufficed” The song “Dayenu” is steeped in our Passover holiday tradition, and it is about thanking G-d for all of the many gifts given to Jews over the centuries, any which one gift “would have been enough.”
As a rental housing provider, I could not help thinking as I sat around the beautiful Passover dinner table with my family while belting out my out-of-tune rendition of “Dayenu,” I thought to myself, “dammit,” it is enough, way too much already, all of the regulatory “crap” being dished out on each of us – it has to stop. Sadly, like many of you, I tend to think about rent control, eviction protections, and so many of the other crazy rules and regulations proposed or made into law, at some of the most inopportune times.
The plethora of eviction moratoriums, rent freezes, lack of rent collections and spiking vacancy rates have done so much harm to us all. We have now been under one or more eviction moratoria for over a year, with no end in sight for those of us that own rental properties within the City of Los Angeles or Beverly Hills, and with a “possible” end date of June 30, 2021 for those of us subject to Senate Bill 91, which by the way, there’s talk of extending further. So, plan ahead as that is not light at the end of the tunnel, but an oncoming train bearing down on us.
And, while several jurisdictions have frozen rent increases, whether renters have been impacted by COVID related financial distress or not, we are still getting “hit” with various utility and fee increases. Very recently, for example, the City of Los Angeles after having initially increased trash hauling fees for its RecycLA monopoly almost three years ago by 200% to 400% or more in some cases, decided to pass along a 6.15% rate increase to multifamily property owners at the same time rent increases continue to remain frozen. Now, the City Council is working with waste haulers to defer the increase for those of you who ask, but you will eventually need to pay the increase unlike renters for whom we will never “make-up” for forgone rent increases for over a year and beyond.
Cities throughout California today are evaluating the passage of the “T.O.P.A.” or a “tenant opportunity to purchase act” which offers either renters, designated non-profits organizations, or the government itself the “first right” to purchase a property when offered for sale or when a property owner desires to redevelop a property. In real estate law, actually in any contract law, a so-called “right of first refusal” is a very valuable contractual right that some local jurisdictions, such as Berkeley, California want to take-away from property owners without compensation. The City of Los Angeles had also been evaluating this same concept. Where there is smoke, there is often fire, and “T.O.P.A.” could soon be a major blaze up and down California – you just mark my words.
Another ill-conceived initiative being brought forth by the City of Los Angeles is a punishing anti-tenant harassment ordinance. The proposal would allow tenants to pursue a private right of action against their landlords for “harassment,” which under the City’s proposal could mean the failure to make timely and necessary repairs, creating dust or noise, or failing to follow industry standards, whatever they may be, in making repairs. The broad definition of “harassment” contemplated by the City would allow any unscrupulous tenant lawyer to “drive a truck through” the ordinance and open hunting season on landlords by threatening lawsuits for the smallest infractions and forcing landlords into out-of-court settlements or, as I like to call them, forcing “extortion payments.” But what is really sad about all this is that when I speak to rental housing providers, and I do speak to them quite often, I hear stories about how they themselves are being harassed by renters. This is particularly true for some the seniors who own rental property and who are today in grave fear of their renters who have aggressively threatened these owners who dare ask about rent that may be owed. It has gotten so bad out there, that many of our landlords today live-in fear of providing tenants with government mandated forms and notices or communicating in any way with their tenants for fear of possible harassment claims. Under the City’s proposed anti-tenant harassment, owners could have to pay up to $15,000 per claim. What about protections for us? We are being harassed too, and probably far more often.
All these regulations do is just run up the legal bills and other costs of housing providers while, ironically, our elected officials just sit around pondering why owners need to increase rent to cover costs or want out of the business entirely. Four decades of these re-treaded housing regulations, price controls, tenant protections and more has caused the housing shortages and the “World Record” of the nation’s homelessness dilemma. Sadly, our elected officials just do not get the obvious – it’s just like the definition of “insanity.” There is no way to get a different result by doing the same exact thing for the past 40 years. We need to try some new “stuff.” It is enough already. Deyenu!