Editorial News Alert: L.A. City Ignores Facts, Passes Major Repairs Moratorium

Editorial News Alert

L.A. City Ignores Facts, Passes Major Repairs Moratorium

By Janet M. Gagnon, Esq.

Chief Corporate Affairs Officer & SVP, Government Affairs

On Friday, March 7^th, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously (12-to-0) to pass an immediate moratorium on all No-Fault evictions for substantial remodels (a/k/a, major repairs/replacement and/or hazardous material removal).  Once again, the City has proven that it does not support rental housing providers and has completely bought into the lies told by tenant extremists that private property owners are horrible individuals simply for providing much needed housing.  The moratorium covers ALL rental housing, including single family houses, condominiums, accessory dwelling units (ADUs), and multifamily properties of built in any year and will remain in place until August 1, 2025 and is RETROACTIVE for all pending notices.

This was a motion initiated and brought forward by Council Members Bob Blumenfield and Katy Yaroslavksy to prohibit owners from conducting needed major repairs/replacements and removal of hazardous waste at their properties.  It excluded only Council Members Monica Rodriguez, Traci Park and Current Price as they were all absent for the meeting. 

There are no exclusions made for high interest loans that have already been obtained to pay for the work needed, contracts signed to have the work conducted, permits that have already been obtained, nor notices that have already been served upon renters and are still pending.  If this impacts YOU, then please reach out to the full City Council, especially Council Members Bob Blumenfield and Katy Yaroslavsky, to let them know the harm they are causing you and copy AAGLA at advocacy@aagla.org.

Friday’s meeting was a shocking display of willful delusion by the entire City Council (excluding Council Members Rodriguez, Park and Price who were absent from the meeting) as such severe and unnecessary action of passing an immediate substantial remodel moratorium was taken.  The action was taken despite the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) testimony at the Housing and Homelessness Committee meeting on February 19^th that less than 100 substantial remodels had taken place in the last 26 months (that’s over two years) with only 2 occurring in 2025 in Non-RSO buildings.  Non-RSO means multifamily buildings built after October 1, 1978, as well as all single-family houses, condominiums, and ADUs that are presently excluded from the existing rent stabilization ordinance (RSO).  This major repair moratorium is supposed to address the rampant “abuse” of substantial remodel as a No-Fault reason for eviction that the extremists have been promoting and labeled “renovictions”, which is clearly nothing more than a HOAX.  This HOAX is just one more massive misrepresentation being made by tenant extremists to force mom-and-pop owners out of the rental housing business because providing needed affordable housing by owners of private property is somehow “evil”.

Further, this moratorium is completely unnecessary and seriously harms rental housing provides by prohibiting them from making needed major repairs or forcing small owners to sell their properties “as is” for demolition and likely replacement as luxury housing.  It hurts renters too by forcing them to live in buildings in need of major repairs or losing their housing due to demolition and redevelopment.  These are NOT cosmetic repairs as the extremists wrongfully claim (cosmetic repairs are already excluded under state).  This is just one more lie told by extremists and believed by the Los Angeles City Council without verification.  A major repair such as plumbing, electrical systems, or structural repairs, that take more than 30 days to complete cannot be delayed by MONTHS before being addressed, which is unfortunately, the situation that is created by the City Council under this moratorium.  This is a “LOSE-LOSE” moratorium for renters and owners alike, but the City Council refuses to believe the facts.

Instead, the City Council wants to portray themselves as heroes for forcing moms-and-pops out of the rental housing business with another last-minute, retroactive moratorium that prevents owners from being responsible rental housing providers AND hurts renters by forcing them to live in unsafe conditions.  Only in L.A. City would this action be considered “heroic”.  The City Council’s open animosity towards rental housing providers and repeated actions of pulling the rug out from under their feet as small business owners seemingly have no limits.  They won’t even believe facts when presented by their own LAHD staff, as a neutral party.  Instead, the City Council is blindly devoted to unverified horror stories told by tenant extremists with an agenda to destroy private property rights.

It is nothing less than shocking that even when presented with clear and convincing facts, the City Council refuses to wake up to the lies they are being told by extremists nor even cause them to reconsider their unwarranted attack on rental housing providers.  The City Council could have readily directed staff to conduct a study on the issue of substantial remodels, as they regularly do on all other types of legislative matters, without creating this harmful moratorium.  However, recognizing the truth would have taken away their five minutes of fame in the spotlight pretending to support renters while, in fact, forcing them to remain in unsafe conditions and driving responsible rental housing providers out of business. 

Now the City Council will come back with a new “program” forcing property owners to endure the costs of major repairs, permits and high interest loans as well as new relocation fees for renters.  How does the City think that any mom-and-pop owner will be able to stay in business under such additional cost burdens and bureaucratic hurdles?  Why isn’t the City instead pursuing the creation of rehabilitation grants for owners to help them to stay in business providing needed affordable housing?

AAGLA will continue to keep our members informed as this new “program” is pursued by the City when additional information becomes available.

This article is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions regarding your property or specific leasing issues and the requirements of any legal changes described herein, please consult with an attorney.

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