LA County to Consider Changes to Apartment Inspections and Enforcement Program

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday will consider overhauling its housing inspection program and enforcement policies.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the five-member board will consider updating its Rental Housing Habitability and Rent Escrow Account programs. In addition, supervisors may also authorize staff to execute service contracts needed to implement the programs, as well as conduct outreach and education to renters and landlords. In order to effectuate these changes, the county will need to adopt two ordinances.

If approved, the county would require all rentals to be routinely inspected once every four years under its Rental Housing Habitability Program. This program would be on top of complaint-based inspections.

The program would be implemented in the unincorporated areas of the county, such as Whittier, Long Beach, La Habra Heights, Pomona, East Los Angeles, Hawthorne, Marina del Rey, among other communities.

In addition, changes to the Rent Escrow Account Program would allow rent reductions on properties that do not timely correct violations of habitability standards. In other words, if a landlord does not address certain issues within a timely manner, for example mold, the tenants can request a reduction in their rent through this county program until the problem is addressed.

According to county documents, landlords who fail to fix code violations could have their properties into REAP, and tenants would pay their rent into an account withheld from the landlord until those issues are addressed.

The county’s proposal is similar to inspections and enforcement procedures that have been in place in the city of Los Angeles since 1998.

These changes are intended to centralize and expand the county’s inspection process and maintain compliance with state and county habitability requirements, according to a report from Dawyn Harrison, county counsel.

It will also create the position of a county housing program chief, who will administer and enforce the programs. Harrison noted REAP is intended to hold violators accountable.

As part of the Rental Housing Habitability Program, inspectors will review units for the following, which include but are not limited to: waterproofing, working plumbing and gas; appropriate water supply and pressure; operable ventilation system in the bathroom; no mold and free from infestation of insects such as cockroaches or bed bugs.

In the initial year of enforcement and implementation, costs will be covered by fees. The RHH Program would establish a $86 per unit, per year, fee that would be included as part of the rental property’s annual tax assessment, according to a county memo. Landlords would be permitted to pass 50% of the fee on to the tenant.

Landlords who’ve had their property placed into REAP would face an administrative fee of $137 per rental unit per month until they clear those violations.

The ordinances would take effect six months once adopted by the county’s Board of Supervisors.

While the county’s proposal has received support from renters, the California Apartment Association has expressed concern over these changes.

“We respectfully request the creation of an alternative inspection time frame and cost assessment for properties that have a demonstrated history of compliance,” Fred Sutton, senior vice president of local public affairs for CAA, said in a letter to the county. “Responsible housing providers and those operating in excellence should not face the same administrative burden or cost structure as those with non-compliant histories.”

He added, “The goal of the program is to achieve compliance and this proactive program is in addition to a complaint based rapid response program.”