Why L.A. Tenants Will Get Stuck With Rent Hikes for Quake Retrofitting
We need to address the threat of earthquake,” says Larry Gross, executive director of the renters rights group Coalition for Economic Survival, “but we don’t want to create an economic earthquake for a tenant who won’t be able to afford this increase and will likely be displaced from their home.”
It could cost up to $130,000 to extensively inspect — including partially dismantling — and then strengthen each building. A landlord’s group puts the cost at about $5,000 for a single unit. Under the approved ordinance, owners can pass the entire cost on to renters over a five- to 10-year span.
Gross, of the Coalition for Economic Survival, says that while this is the worst time to allow citywide rent increases, reality suggests $38 is a good compromise.
“Clearly, given the situation where tenants in this city are now mostly paying unaffordable rents, and most are paying upward of 50 percent of their income to rent, we don’t like the idea of one more dollar in rent,” Gross says. “The fact is that right now the current law states tenants could be hit with upward of a $75 increase and would have to bear the burden of the retrofit costs. One hundred percent could be passed on. That’s a fact.”
Based on the $38 monthly maximum, the average L.A. tenant would see an increase more like $18, for a range of $1,800 to $3,800 in hikes if somebody rents in L.A. for a decade.
“This proposal definitely strives to establish some degree of equity in regards to who pays for the costs,” Gross says. “We’re doing everything we can to try to soften the blow, because we’ve seen the blow coming.”
Organizing Times 