Los Angeles Tenant Rights in Rent Controlled Units

Introduction Renting a place in Los Angeles can be an exciting venture, but it's vital to understand your rights and responsibilities as a tenant to ensure you are not being taken advantage of by your landlord. This post will delve into specific municipal codes that outline key tenant rights in Los Angeles, providing you with the knowledge you need to protect your interests and determine whether you should contact a tenants attorney to review your case.

What qualifies as a Rent Controlled Unit in Los Angeles? First, your building must have been built on or before October 1, 1978. This includes replacement units under LAMC Section 151.28. Second, your unit must be one of the units listed below:

• Apartment

• Townhome

• Duplex

• Two or more single-family rental units on the same parcel

• Rooms that have been occupied by the same tenant for 30 or more consecutive days in a hotel, motel, rooming house, or boarding house.

• Residential unit(s) attached to a commercial building

• Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU)

• Junior Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU)

If you meet the qualifications above, you are entitled to the rent protections listed below as a Los Angeles tenant.

Right to a Habitable Living Space (Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 151.02) One of the most fundamental tenant rights in Los Angeles is the right to a habitable living space, as defined by the Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 151.02. This code states that landlords are legally obliged to provide a safe and functional living environment. Your rental unit should have proper heating, plumbing, and electrical systems, free from hazards like lead-based paint or mold. If the Landlord collects the full amount of rent while your property has uninhabitable conditions, that may constitute an illegal rent increase. Below are relevant code sections from LAMC 151.02.

Housing Services. Services connected with the use or occupancy of a rental unit including, but not limited to, utilities (including light, heat, water, and telephone), ordinary repairs or replacement, and maintenance, including painting. This term shall also include the provision of elevator service, laundry facilities and privileges, common recreational facilities, janitor service, resident manager, refuse removal, furnishings, food service, parking and any other benefits privileges or facilities.

Rent Increase. An increase in rent or any reduction in housing services where there is not a corresponding reduction in the amount of rent received. The Rent Adjustment Commission shall promulgate regulations as to what constitutes such “corresponding reduction”.

As a Los Angeles tenant, make sure to notify your landlord in writing (text messages or email) immediately once you discover the unhabitable condition. Further, take photos and videos for your records showing the severity of the unhabitable conditions. If your landlord is collecting rent after you notified them and the landlord did not make repairs within a reasonable time, you may be entitled to get a portion of your rent back, along with other damages.

Anti-Tenant Harassment (Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 45.33) Los Angeles Tenants are also entitled to live in their rent-controlled units free from landlord harassment. The City of Los Angeles has defined landlord harassment as: A landlord's knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific tenant or tenants that causes detriment and harm, and that serves no lawful purpose, including, but not limited to, the following actions:

1. Reducing or eliminating housing services required by a lease, contract, or law, including the elimination of parking if provided in the tenant's lease or contract except when necessary to comply with a court order or local or state law, or to create an accessory dwelling unit or additional housing.

2. Failing to perform and timely complete necessary repairs and maintenance required by Federal, State, County, or local housing, health, or safety laws; or failure to follow applicable industry standards to minimize exposure to noise, dust, lead paint, asbestos, or other building materials with potentially harmful health impacts.

3. Abuse of the right of access into a rental unit as established and limited by California Civil Code Section 1954, including entering or photographing portions of a rental unit that are beyond the scope of a lawful entry or inspection.

4. Threatening a tenant, by word or gesture, with physical harm.

5. Attempting to coerce the tenant to vacate with offer(s) of payments.

6. Misrepresenting to a tenant that the tenant is required to vacate a rental unit or enticing a tenant to vacate a rental unit through an intentional misrepresentation or the concealment or omission of a material fact.

7. Threatening or taking action to terminate any tenancy including service of any notice to quit or other eviction notice or bringing action to recover possession of a rental unit based on facts which the landlord has no reasonable cause to believe to be true. No landlord shall be liable under this subsection for bringing an action to recover possession of a rental unit unless and until the tenant has obtained a favorable termination of that action.

8. Threatening to or engaging in any act or omission which interferes with the tenant's right to use and enjoy the rental unit or whereby the premises are rendered unfit for human habitation and occupancy.

9. Refusing to acknowledge or accept receipt of lawful rent payments as set forth in the lease agreement or as established by the usual practice of the parties or applicable law.

10. Inquiring as to the immigration or citizenship status of a tenant, prospective additional tenant, occupant, or prospective additional occupant of a rental unit, or requiring any of these people to make any statement, representation, or certification concerning their immigration or citizenship status.

11. Disclosing or threatening to disclose to any person or entity information regarding the immigration or citizenship status of a tenant, whether in retaliation for engaging in legally protected activities or to influence them to vacate or for any other reason.

12. Disclosing or threatening to disclose information about a tenant to any government entity for engaging in legally protected activities or to influence them to vacate.

13. Engaging in an activity prohibited by federal, state, or local housing anti-discrimination laws.

14. Retaliating, threatening, or interfering with tenant organizing activities, including forming or participating in tenant associations and unions.

15. Interfering with a tenant's right to privacy or requesting information that violates a tenant's right to privacy, including, but not limited to, residency or citizenship status or social security number, except as authorized by law.

16. Other repeated acts or omissions of such significance as to substantially interfere with or disturb the comfort, repose, peace or quiet of a tenant(s) and that cause, are likely to cause, or are committed with the objective to cause a tenant(s) to surrender or waive any rights in relation to such tenancy.

However, Los Angeles tenants must notify their landlord in writing to have a case under this code section. Then, the landlord must fail to remedy the repair or maintenance issue within a reasonable period of time (usually within 30 days, depending on the severity of the issue).

If you or a loved one is experiencing unhabitable conditions in your property and want to know more about your rights as a Los Angeles tenant, please get in touch with Sedehi Law by submitting your case on our website or calling us at 949-381-1687 for a FREE case evaluation.