With many federal unemployment benefits introduced in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic set to expire at the end of the month, it’s feared that millions of Americans could face eviction from their homes.
HousingWire reports that almost 44 million Americans have filed for unemployment since mid-March, when the pandemic began. And with 110 million people in the U.S. living in rented homes, the Aspen Institute has warned that millions are likely to evicted as they’ll be unable to continue paying their rent. Indeed, it estimates up to 23 million renters could be kicked out of their homes by the end of September.
“We can expect [evictions] to increase dramatically in the coming weeks and months, especially as the limited support and intervention measures that are in place start to expire,” said Emily Benfer, the chair of the American Bar Association’s Task Force Committee on Eviction, in an interview on CNBC. “About 10 million people, over a period of years, were displaced from their housing following the foreclosure crisis in 2008. We’re looking at 20 million to 28 million people in this moment, between now and September, facing eviction.”
Most of these evictions started before March, when the courts were suddenly closed down and prohibitions on evictions began. That’s resulted in a huge backlog of cases, said Megan Booth, director of federal housing, valuation and commercial real estate policy and programs at the National Association of Realtors. So it means that not all of the evictions are related to the pandemic.
The problem for many renters is that the owners of the properties they live in are at risk too, and cannot afford to be sympathetic to their plight.
“The owners that are most likely to be affected by the eviction crisis right now are those who have small properties and don’t have the financial cushion to make ends meet over a period of months when they’re not receiving that rent,” Benfer told CNBC. “Once that’s in place, we really need to start addressing the root cause of the eviction crisis and the lack of affordable housing.”
The Aspen Institute’s data suggests that black and Latino renters are likely to be at a higher risk of eviction. The U.S. cities with the highest eviction rates so far this year are North Charleston, South Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; Hampton, Virginia; Newport News, Virginia’ and Jackson, Mississippi.
The NAR, the National Multifamily Housing Council and the National Apartment Association are now calling on the government to provide $144 billion in assistance to help renters avoid being evicted from their homes. Meanwhile, the National Low Income Housing Coalition says a minimum of $100 billion is require to stave off mass evictions.
There is some good news at least. As HousingWire reported, several states and counties have established short term emergency rental assistance programs to help out their residents, including one-time bailouts of a few hundred dollars designed to cover two months’ rent. In addition, some foundations and nonprofit organizations have created emergency funds for struggling renters. Meanwhile, rental groups have called on lawmakers to extend eviction moratoriums and require landlords to accept repayment of past-due rent for at least six months, to give renters more time to find a solution.
Mike Wheatley is the senior editor at Realty Biz News. Got a real estate related news article you wish to share, contact Mike at [email protected]
A recent survey shows that most Americans would rather invest in real estate than in the stock market. On today’s State of the Market podcast, we discuss why we prefer investing in housing over publicly traded companies. But we also talk about the challenges that come with owning rental property. Plus, we cover breaking stories in the real estate sphere, including news of forbearance requests dropping to their lowest levels since March 2020.
Listen to today’s show and learn:
Normalcy starts to return to New York [1:37]
Skyline Tower sales on fire – signs of a comeback in Long Island? [2:48]
Lean pickings with twice as many agents as listings in Boston [5:22]
New forbearance requests at lowest level since March 2020 [8:57]
Oakland pushes to bring multi-family housing into single-family neighborhoods [12:38]
Texas court opens eviction flood gates [18:43]
Survey shows that people prefer investing in real estate over stocks [24:38]
Offerpad makes moving easier for sellers with 60-day extended stay [30:06]
Kelly Skeval
Kelly moved to Ithaca in 2005 after attaining her degree in Veterinary Technology and continued her career in veterinary medicine at Cornell University until her first child was born. Kelly had an active interest in real estate long before her and her husband, a Trumansburg native, decided to purchase their first home. When they did, they turned it into an owner occupied duplex and were able to use that foundation to further expand their real estate portfolio to include 5 properties and 10 units.
In addition, Kelly and her husband owned a home energy auditing business. Being a BPI certified energy auditor she was able to assess homes and building envelopes then make recommendations to homeowners on how to make improvements that would save energy and make their homes more efficient.
It is Kelly’s knowledge in many aspects of real estate including but not limited to single family buying and selling, rental properties, new construction, property management, building envelopes and business ownership that make her an ideal person to help you in your real estate endeavors. Purchasing or selling a home is a big decision and Kelly prides herself on offering quality customer service along with knowledge and compassion.
In her spare time, Kelly enjoys spending time with her husband and their two small children exploring the Fingerlakes region and all that it has to offer.
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Thank You Rockstars! It might go without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway: We really value listeners like you. We’re constantly working to improve the show, so why not leave us a review? If you love the content and can’t stand the thought of missing the nuggets our Rockstar guests share every week, please subscribe; it’ll get you instant access to our latest episodes and is the best way to support your favorite real estate podcast. Have questions? Suggestions? Want to say hi? Shoot me a message via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or Email. -Aaron Amuchastegui
In June, my girlfriend and I purchased our first home in Naugatuck, CT, at the age of 25. After shopping around, we landed on a four unit multi-family home that was fully occupied for ten years. Not only was this our first home, but it was our first rental property as well.
Entering the homeownership world is exciting, but we still have more to learn as first-time real estate investors. Despite our lack of experience as landlords, we’ve been able to make it work so far!
Here are 4 Things I’ve Learned Since Buying a Rental Property.
Get An LLC Before Buying Your Property
An LLC is a Limited Liability Company – business owners will structure their business as an LLC to avoid personal liability. In other words, an LLC protects you from becoming liable for the company’s debts.
Once I had the funds allocated to register for an LLC, I used Zen Business to go through the process. The LLC cost about $450 and took around two weeks to finalize. My favorite part about Zen Business was that it kept me updated throughout the process.
After you register your LLC, you’ll receive a business identification number to register your business in the state you’ll be operating in. The registration cost in CT was $200, plus an additional $113 for the certificate needed for taxes.
To have an active LLC, you’ll need a business banking account. Whom you decide to bank with is your personal preference. I chose to work with Chase as they offered minimal fees and high benefits. Business banking accounts do require you to hold a minimum balance.
While obtaining an LLC is not a complicated process, it is costly, and you should try to do it before closing on your home. Unfortunately, I could not afford to get my LLC organized before we closed on our home. So, all of our paperwork had my legal name associated with it to start.
Track All of Your Expenses
As a landlord, you’ll have many property expenses that pop up. You must keep track of all of these to gain the most value from your rental property when you file your taxes.
Organization is vital, as it will help reduce the risk of an audit from the IRS, allow you to monitor your profitability, and make sure you receive all of the tax deductions you’re eligible to receive.
I’ve found that keeping a physical and digital copy works best. All hard copies get stored in our filing cabinet, and digital versions are housed in our QuickBooks expense sheet.
Know When to Be Nice and When to Be Stern
Sometimes, people try to be too accommodating so they’ll let a late payment slide, thinking it’ll only be one time. As much as you may want to be an understanding landlord, you still have to set expectations early.
Renting a property provides regular cash flow for as long as there is a tenant paying rent. Because you may be paying a mortgage with rental income, a late rental payment could affect your ability to make monthly mortgage payments.
One of my tenants reached out to me, saying that their rent payment would be late. Since this was the first time it came up, I allowed the tenant to submit their payment a few days after the rent due date. However, I also clarified that I did not want them to make a habit out of this, and all future payments must be on time, or they could potentially face eviction. Remember: setting the tone early helps you avoid problems in the long term.
Caring For the Building is Your Responsibility
As a Landlord, you’re responsible for providing a habitable and safe living environment for your tenants. This means making sure you do your due diligence to ensure units are livable and the property is well-kept.
When we originally purchased the property, we knew the stairs needed to be redone completely. We decided to contract someone to repair the stairs and get them up to code. After the stairs were fixed, we later learned that we needed to submit a permit and have a fire marshal inspect them to make sure they met regulations. Fortunately, we were able to submit the paperwork promptly, but it was a lesson learned to make sure we have all the information we need when working with any contractor on projects.
My girlfriend and I have learned so much as Landlords in the short time we’ve owned this property. There’s still so much more that we’ll learn along the way. I hope you can learn from some of the experiences we’ve had thus far as you take steps to own a rental property.
The National Association of Realtors is calling for landlords to receive emergency rental assistance to help them cover their costs during the coronavirus pandemic.
The call comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called on a 1944 public health law that was created to help prevent the spread of dangerous illnesses, to justify an extension of an eviction moratorium until the end of the year.
The White House’s announcement that tenants cannot be evicted this year will assist many struggling renters, but at the same time it does nothing to help landlords who must still make payments and obligations on the properties they own, the NAR said.
“While NAR appreciates and is supportive of administrative efforts to ensure struggling Americans can remain in their homes, this order as written will bring chaos to our nation’s critical rental housing sector and put countless property owners out of business,” Vince Malta, NAR’s president, said in a statement. “Any eviction moratorium must also come with rental assistance for property owners, the vast majority of which are mom-and-pop investors and are still required to meet their financial obligations even as they cease to receive income on their properties.”
The new eviction moratorium runs through December 31, and applies to all renters who earn less than $99,000 a year. Renters must also certify that they’re unable to pay their rent due to the coronavirus pandemic, and those who’ve received protection will need to make up for their missed payments once the moratorium expires.
Earlier eviction moratoriums only applied to homebuyers who purchased their homes with federally backed mortgages from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But the new law applies to all rental units in the country, White House officials said.
“An untailored eviction moratorium will bring more havoc to our economy, not less, and will put America’s 43 million renter households at significant risk,” Malta warned.
The NAR has urged Congress to pass new legislation that will provide emergency rental assistance programs to housing providers.
Mike Wheatley is the senior editor at Realty Biz News. Got a real estate related news article you wish to share, contact Mike at [email protected]
[Note from editor: The “Mastermind Showcase” highlights companies and news from members of the GEM. Today’s showcase: RentSpree.]
RentSpree provides tenant screening services for property managers, landlords, and renters. The screening process collects rental applications and delivers credit reports, background checks, and nationwide eviction report data through a partnership with the credit bureau TransUnion.
RentSpree PRO is a subscription service offering additional tenant screening features, such as pay stub or bank statement collection, and automated reference checks to gather information from prospective tenants’ employers or prior landlords.
Renters can use RentSpree to avoid hard credit inquiries and apply for multiple properties with the same application.
What we like: The rental screening API enables partners to incorporate an automated screening process. Recent expansion of its MLS Partnership Program has been a strong route to growth, rolling out RentSpree to new partners such as Bright MLS.
There’s a growing divide in real estate, with some home shoppers fortunate enough to be able to buy newer and bigger homes, while others who have experienced job losses face losing their current home.
The U.S. unemployment rate grew to 8.4% in August, and many Americans have been left struggling to pay their mortgages or monthly rent. Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, says another 10 million jobs must be created to get the U.S. economy back to where it was before the coronavirus pandemic.
Moreover, a survey by the Census Bureau recently revealed that 42% of renters who earn less than $35,000 per year say they have only slight, or no confidence in their ability to pay September’s rent.
“The level of economic suffering for families is heartbreaking if we don’t figure out how to help unemployed Americans pay rent,” Sam Gilman, co-founder of the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project, told USA Today. “Eviction leads to horrible consequences for families. It can lead to homelessness, kids not going to school, and is linked to deaths of despair.”
Gilman estimated that up to 40 million Americans are at risk of being evicted at the end of the year if nothing is done. He said that eviction and foreclosure moratoriums that extend to the end of the year could well be postponing the inevitable.
“We are only delaying this huge build-up in rental debt and the precursor to eviction,” Gilman said. “Once rent comes due after the holidays, the circumstances for millions of Americans likely will not have changed.”
The most recent eviction moratorium came into effect on Friday, and requires tenants to certify or testify under penalty of perjury that they’re doing everything that they can to pay. Some of the obstacles that preclude them from paying the rent include job losses or wage reductions, and medical expenses.
Meanwhile, as millions of renters worry about losing their homes, there are millions of buyers at the other end of the spectrum with secure, well paying jobs that are flooding the market. Indeed, the housing market has emerged as one of the main drivers of economic recovery, with 27,700 jobs added to the construction industry in recent months. In addition, the NAR has seen record levels of membership, Yun said.
Those with high-paying jobs are looking to take advantage of record low mortgage rates, and many are looking to upsize during the pandemic.
“There’s a fortunate group of Americans with a steady paycheck that didn’t go on a big vacation, but did end up buying new furniture, appliances, or are renovating,” Ted Rossman, an industry analyst at Bankrate, told USA Today.
Citing a recent survey, Bankrate said around 59% of homeowners in the U.S. have completed at least $500 worth of home upgrades this year, or are planning to do so before the end of the year.
Others, instead of sprucing up their existing home, or aiming for something new and bigger. With that, home prices have rapidly escalated as demand increases. Now, the median national price for an existing home has hit $304,100, the first time it’s ever surpassed $300,000, the NAR said.
The market well and truly belongs to sellers at present, Rossman told USA Today.
“There’s still a lot of interest in sellers getting top dollar for their homes and buyers getting more space. The work-from-home trend has legs even beyond the pandemic because many companies have found that workers can be productive from home and it saves them money on office space. That has big ripple effects for the housing market if work-from-home becomes more permanent,” Rossman said.
Mike Wheatley is the senior editor at Realty Biz News. Got a real estate related news article you wish to share, contact Mike at [email protected]
What happens when mortgage forbearance ends? On today’s State of the Market podcast, Auction.com’s Daren Blomquist joins us to discuss the possibility of a massive wave of foreclosures hitting the market. We talk about current property prices, dive into detailed foreclosure stats, and more. Tune in and get information on everything you need to know as a Realtor, investor, or prospective homebuyer.
Listen to today’s show and learn:
The shadow inventory of foreclosures [4:41]
Daren’s thoughts on what will happen to properties in forbearance [8:21]
The average equity loss for properties in forbearance [11:23]
Foreclosures in Texas [14:37]
Bubble or boom? Daren’s thoughts on housing prices [19:48]
Why the first-time-homebuyer tax credit is the wrong solution [24:29]
The eviction moratorium’s impact on landlords [26:37]
Daren’s foreclosure stats [34:22]
The average price of foreclosure sales compared to total debt [40:47]
Where to find more of Daren’s foreclosure research [42:16]
Daren Blomquist
Daren Blomquist is Auction.com’s new Vice President, Market Economist. Recently, Daren served as Vice President at Attom Data Solutions where he was widely recognized as an authority in the housing and mortgage industries. In his new role, Daren focuses on analyzing and forecasting complex macro and microeconomic data trends within the marketplace and greater industry.
Daren mines real estate data for key insights and trends to help businesses and consumers make better decisions. Prior to Auction.com, Blomquist directed ATTOM Media, a division of ATTOM Data Solutions, which publishes original real estate reports and analysis.
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Thank You Rockstars! It might go without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway: We really value listeners like you. We’re constantly working to improve the show, so why not leave us a review? If you love the content and can’t stand the thought of missing the nuggets our Rockstar guests share every week, please subscribe; it’ll get you instant access to our latest episodes and is the best way to support your favorite real estate podcast. Have questions? Suggestions? Want to say hi? Shoot me a message via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or Email. -Aaron Amuchastegui
Elvira Rincon never loved the small apartment that sits between Sunset Boulevard and Dodger Stadium. Even 30 years ago, shortly after she arrived from a small town in Queretaro, Mexico, and moved in with her husband and five children, the one-bedroom unit built in the 1920s felt cramped.
But over the decades she made it a home, planting a sprawling container garden of flowers, fruits and medicinal herbs to cure her family of stomach pains and colds. Her husband poured concrete to make a small patio in the courtyard, where they hosted birthday parties nearly every month. At $495 a month the rent-controlled apartment allowed Rincon, her children and now grandchildren to build a life in the heart of Los Angeles.
That made it easy for Rincon, 59, to dismiss the first buyout offer. A developer who bought the complex and a neighboring one last year proposed paying her and her neighbors $22,000 to leave. She did the math and figured the money would be gone in about one year in a county where the median rent for a one-bedroom is $1,600.
The second offer to Rincon and her neighbors came in February: $55,000. It was more money than she and her husband, who works in a local nursery, could ever save on their own — and still not enough to stay in her neighborhood for long.
Soon after, the ownerssent workersto tear apart a storage shed she’d had for years and haul it away, along with a barbecue and many of her plants, saying they were health and safety violations. Rincon saw it as harassment meant to pressure her to go so the landlord could jack up the rent.
Like so many others, she and her family had one shaky foothold keeping them in a rental market that was otherwise soaring out of reach, and they felt that people with more power than them were trying to shake them off of it.
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The company says it was simply making changes requested by its insurance company and that it is listening to the concerns of residents, not trying to force them out.
Even so, Rincon and her neighbors are on edge, unsure what to expect next and asking themselves whether they still have a place in L.A.
“There are times when I feel desperate,” she said. “I get frustrated. And I tell my husband, ‘Let’s just go. Let’s just go.’ ”
In a city faced with a housing and homelessness crisis, where many renters pay more than half their income to live in overcrowded, aging homes, tenants like Rincon have what many others long for: low-cost housing.
Though city and state officials are desperate to create more of it, developers are simultaneously reducing affordable units by buying out longtime rent-controlled tenants with cash-for-keys offers and renovating old buildings into pricey new apartments or condos. Many residents quietly accept the offers and leave. Others try to hold out, knowing that taking the money probably means leaving their communities or facing rent that’s double, triple or more what they currently pay. Sometimes, tenants say, that leads to harassment or pressure campaigns.
The city has adopted policies meant to protect tenants of rent-controlled buildings from being forced to accept buyout offers or being evicted for not accepting.
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In some cases, landlords are required to offer to tenants a base amount for relocation — which ranges from about $12,000 to $23,000 for long-term renters. At times, owners offer more than that. But for tenants with very little income or credit, the money may not go very far once the sky-high rent of their next apartment is factored in.
City leaders have passed rules against harassment. But advocates say the rules lack enforcement, and plenty of tenants say harassment happens anywaywith little recourse.
Rincon arrived in Echo Park in the mid-1990s, fleeing a severe recession in Mexico that left her family’s farm deeply in debt.
Her first home in the U.S. was in the same apartment complex where she lives now, just across the common area, in a unit she shared with her brother-in-law, Pedro Villegas, her husband and others. Three decades later, Villegas still lives in that apartment, paying monthly rent similar to Rincon’s, whose monthly payments have increased twice over the years to $640.
Despite language barriers, Rincon became close with her neighbors, who include an 80-year-old retiree, a nursing student, her mom and brother, and a Cambodian refugee.Their kids often served as translators.
They’ve watched out for each other’s children and grandchildren, fed each other’s pets and shared lemongrass and guavas from their gardens. Though Rincon doesn’t care for the loquat tree that grows in a corner of the property, she keeps watering it because her neighbors love the fruit.
“We’re more like a community. We have been for years,” said Virginia Watson, 80. “We all know each other. We talk. We watch out for each other. It’s very unusual for L.A. because in other places I’ve lived everybody’s kind of anonymous, in their own little cubicle.”
Once Watson retired and began living on a fixed income, she was able to stay in her home because the rent was manageable. The same was true for Rincon and her family when she injured her back and stopped working.
Villegas’ four children have lived their entire lives in the complex, roaming the hills of Elysian Park and riding their bikes to Echo Park. He works at a laundromat on Sunset Boulevard, a short walk away. His youngest is now a junior at Ramon C. Cortines school downtown.
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Like Rincon, heknew the $55,000 offer wouldn’t last long in his community.
“The cost of rent is just too difficult,” he said. “The money doesn’t go far.”
Watson lives in a studio apartment adjacent to Rincon’s. She’s been there for 20 years, lives on Social Security and a small retirement income and pays $529 a month. When she’s looked online for other studios in the neighborhood, the most affordable cost isnearly $1,500 a month, an amount that she said would take about three-quarters of her income.
She might have considered the offer to leave if it was affordable to move in the city, she said.
But “rent is really, really high in L.A. I don’t know how you would manage for any length of time,” she said.
On Nov. 8, a few months afterWatson, Rincon and their neighbors decided not to take the initial $22,000 offer to leave, the property owners, Lilac Development LLC, served Watson with a three-day notice to pay or leave, saying she had not paid her rent for the month, though she says it was paid.
Watson reported the incident to the housing department, which investigated and found the notice in violation of city code for failing to provide proper information under COVID-era tenant protections, according to public records.
One month earlier, the owners served another resident with a three-day notice to pay or vacate the property, saying they owed $86.
In that case, the housing department found a “potential violation of the Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance,” records show.
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In both cases, housing officials wrote letters to the owners, explaining the law.
Watson and her neighbors see this and other actions, including the workers who went to the complex twice in March, tore down Rincon’s shed and hauled away her plants, as a pattern of harassment meant to pushthem out of their homes.
“I wake up after dreaming that I’m in a battle with landlords, big companies,” Watson said.
Recently, she packed up many of her belongings, assuming she would soon be out of a home, and she has kept them that way.
“I don’t unpack them because I don’t know how long I’m gonna be able to be here,” Watson said.
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Rory Anglin and his girlfriend, Jenna Loredo, are the newest residents of the two complexes, having moved in four years ago. They pay $1,236 a month for their one-bedroom, which Anglin sees as “the last of the good rents in L.A.”
When he told his mom in Mississippi about the $22,000 offer to leave, she was stunned at the amount.
“In Mississippi, that does sound like a lot,” Anglin said. In L.A. it most certainly does not.
Even so, Anglin said they were willing to consider taking a buyout until they felt a harassment campaign against his neighbors had begun.
“The end game for me is ‘leave us alone,’ ” Anglin said. “If we decide we want to move, we’ll move. But before we do, I gotta make sure all this stuff stops. It has to stop.”
If there’s a silver lining, Anglin said, it’s that the neighbors have become even closer in the last few months, forming a tenants’ association and strategizing together to push back against any harassment.
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Sara Rose, a property manager for Lilac Development LLC, told The Times that although the company initially offered cash for keys in order to “try to get tenants paying market value,” the company was no longer pursuing that strategy and would focus on “making the property habitable for current tenants.”
The company is not trying to evict anyone, Rose said.
“It’s not something we would take further action on if it wasn’t appropriate to do so,” she said.
Rose also said Lilac Development sent workers to haul away Rincon’s shed, barbecue and plants after its insurance company “advised there was certain work that needed to be done” to get the property insured.
They plan to inspect each property to figure out what needs to be fixed. In April, a city housing inspector found several conditions affecting the “health and safety of the occupants” in Rincon’s building and issued an order to fix the problems, which include damaged plumbing, fences and paint, by May 11.
Residents say there is a long list of problems beyond what that inspection revealed: leaking ceilings, mold, broken heaters and damagedflooring.
“I think based on the feedback we’ve received so far there’s no interest from the residents” in cash for keys, Rose said. “If they are interested and they approach us, it would be something we’d be willing to discuss. We don’t want to continue reaching out on something they’ve made clear they’re not interested in.”
Rincon said the first she heard about the change in plans was from The Times.
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For a long time now, she and her neighbors have felt as if they were in a state of limbo, waiting for an eviction notice or the return of workers tasked with hauling away more of their things. Like Villegas, she has seriously considered returning to Mexico, but her husband tells her they could never leave their children and grandchildren.
There was some relief hearing that the company would focus on making their home more livable rather than on getting them to leave. But she was also skeptical.
Landlords in Los Angeles can resume evicting tenants for unpaid rent and other reasons come Feb. 1, the City Council confirmed in a vote last week.
The decision will end some of the longest-lasting tenant protections in the nation, first passed in March 2020 as part of the emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, landlords have not been allowed to evict their tenants for most reasons, including if the owners wanted to move into their own homes.
The emergency rules have also prohibited landlords from raising the rent in more than 650,000 rent-controlled units in the city, nearly three-quarters of L.A.’s apartment stock. Rent increases in such units will continue to be barred until February 2024.
The city’s emergency protections started amid fears that the deep job loss at the beginning of the pandemic could lead to a tsunami of evictions and worsen the spread of COVID-19. Federal, state and other local political leaders put into place similar anti-eviction rules and offered billions of dollars in financial assistance for those behind on rent.
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But as the pandemic wore on, the eviction protections passed elsewhere expired, leaving those in the city among the last of any major metropolitan area. L.A. County’s similar eviction prohibitions will end Dec. 31.
The local tenant protections have persisted as leaders worried that lifting them, especially as waves of coronavirus infection have continued, would exacerbate the region’s underlying homelessness and overcrowding problems.
“We already have 40,000 people living in the street and we don’t want it to be 40,001,” Councilmember Heather Hutt said at a rally for tenant protections this week, referencing the city’s homeless population.
In October, the council first voted to set Feb. 1 as the expiration date for the COVID anti-eviction rules, while also advancing measures that would expand renter protections in general. Most notably, landlords would no longer be allowed to evict tenants in any rental property, including single-family homes, unless there was unpaid rent, documented lease violations, owner move-ins or other specific reasons. Currently, only tenants living in rent-controlled apartments have this protection.
Then-Council President Nury Martinez brokered the deal to move the policies forward together. But less than a week after the October council vote, City Hall was rocked by the leak of an audio tape in which Martinez made a series of racist remarks in a 2021 conversation with Councilmembers Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera. Martinez resigned and De León and Cedillo stopped showing up at council meetings amid protests over their behavior.
The chaos made it impossible to garner enough support to advance the original plan all at the same time, said Councilmember Nithya Raman, who now leads the council’s housing committee. Instead, last week’s council vote just set the end of the COVID rules, allowing evictions to resume Feb. 1.
Still, Raman and others believe it remains necessary to pass the further protections before the end of next month. Also under consideration are measures to block evictions until February 2024 for tenants who have unauthorized pets or who added residents who aren’t listed on leases and for tenants who are a month or less behind in rent.
“We made a commitment as a council that we would not move out of this period of emergency protections during COVID without a new set of protections for tenants in place,” Raman said. “It is absolutely essential that we keep that promise to the people of Los Angeles.”
The council won’t have much time. Its meeting Tuesday was the last before it recessed for the year. Council meetings resume Jan. 10.
Some of the proposed new protections have more support than others.
John Lee has been among the council members most consistently advocating to end the COVID anti-eviction rules, saying they’re unduly hurting small landlords. Lee said he backs expanding protections against evictions without lease violations, but not the proposal making it harder to evict people for unpaid rent.
“I’m not willing to create any situation where we’re discouraging investment in the city and won’t support anything that will reduce our housing stock,” Lee said.
Despite the rules barring most evictions during the pandemic, the process has been uneven and hard to follow. At various points, tenants have had to pay a portion of rent owed and provide written declarations to their landlord that they’ve been affected by COVID-19. Tenants who remain behind on their rent still owe it.
The level of eviction protection will depend on how long the back rent has been owed and whether tenants followed the notification requirements. In some cases, renters will be permanently barred from eviction for those old debts, though landlords can try to recover the money in small claims court. In other cases, tenants who are now behind will have at least until August before they can be evicted.
The confusionis probably already contributing to a surge in eviction cases even before the protections expire. The number of eviction filings countywide this June eclipsed the amount in February 2020, the last full month before the COVID rules went into place, according to L.A. County Superior Court records compiled by Kyle Nelson, a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA who has tracked them during the pandemic. Since then, filings have continued at pre-pandemic rates.
Nevertheless, many landlords have long been eager for the temporary protections to end.
Reid Rose’s mother-in-law died after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease shortly before the pandemic began. Rents from her Silver Lake duplex had helped pay for her healthcare, and the plan always had been to sell the property and distribute the proceeds to the heirs after her death. But the eviction protections scared away would-be buyers who were uninterested if they couldn’t remove the tenants, Rose said.
Unwilling to sell at well below the property’s value, Rose said his family has been forced to remain landlords. The eviction rules have also prevented them from being able to move in relatives who were looking for housing in Los Angeles.
“We’re just being held in a state of limbo without being able to make any decisions that affect a substantial number of family members,” said Rose, 68. “We do not want to be landlords. The City Council is basically compelling us to be landlords.”
The first day the protections end, Rose said, the family plans to begin evicting their tenants.
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Berkeley Property Management: Understanding General Wear and Tear in Rental Properties + Precautions Landlords Should Take (2023)
The third quarter of the 2021 Market Medians Report indicates a significant rise in new tenancies in Berkeley, with a 104% increase (1863 new tenancies) compared to the same period in 2020 (913). If you own a residential property in Berkeley and are hesitant about finding a new tenant due to concerns about general wear and tear, it may be worthwhile to reconsider your decision.
As a landlord, finding reliable tenants for your Berkeley property management is crucial. It is essential to comprehend the natural deterioration in rental properties and the precautions landlords should take.
Did you know?
The total average rent ceiling in Berkeley for the year 2021 stood at $2,137.60.
The concept of ‘wear and tear’ usually refers to the expected deterioration of a residence and its fixtures due to regular and foreseeable usage over a period of time. It is common to encounter damages in any residential property due to regular, everyday usage. Examples include faded wall color or cracks in corners or on the floor. Such deterioration takes place throughout a tenant’s occupancy of the property.
It is typical for your property to experience wear and tear as a result of tenant usage, so you should anticipate the following damages.
Faded or cracking paint is a common occurrence in residential properties that are in use.
As part of your Berkeley property management responsibilities, it is important to address any damages or cracks in the flooring that you may encounter and ensure they are repaired.
The doors or door frames may suffer damage due to humidity.
It is common to discover cracked window panes in the house, which can be attributed to various reasons.
Over time, the color of the carpet may diminish due to cleaning and exposure to light or chemicals.
Regular usage can damage bathroom tiles, bathtubs, and other similar fixtures.
It is essential to be aware of significant damages that can be categorized as losses to your property. Furthermore, the tenants may have purposely caused the following damages:
Carelessness can lead to the breakage of windows or doors.
Unwanted stains on the wall or wallpaper may be present, which were not approved.
Mishandling can result in a broken sink or bathtub.
Habitability and Maintenance
As a Berkeley property owner, you must understand the concept of habitability and repairs. It is mandated by regulations that rental units must be in a condition suitable for living, meeting the habitable standard. A rental unit is deemed habitable when it meets the standards outlined by state and local building and health codes, ensuring its suitability for human occupancy and prioritizing the well-being and safety of tenants.
Did you know?
California law assigns different repair responsibilities to landlords and tenants. However, landlords ultimately bear the legal obligation to ensure the habitability of their rental units.
Maintenance Duties of the Tenant
Your Berkeley property management task won’t seem difficult if you are planning to find tenants if you are aware of the maintenance rules of the tenants. According to the law, tenants are responsible for maintaining the rental units in good condition. It includes keeping the areas clean and free from damage. Tenants are also accountable for repairing any damages caused by their neglect and addressing damages caused by individuals under their responsibility, such as family members and pets.
Did you know?
According to law, when a rental unit is uninhabitable, the landlord may not have a legal obligation to make repairs if the tenant has failed to fulfill their responsibilities.
Precautions That Landlords Must Take
Making Withdrawals from Security Deposits:
If you clearly understand the concept of general ‘wear and tear,’ you would know that it is a normal occurrence. If you come across any damages caused by tenants’ negligence, you can deduct the necessary amount from their security deposit. The leading providers of property management services always suggest that it is important to familiarize yourself with local laws before taking any action in this regard.
Have Before and After Images:
Prior to the tenant’s occupancy, it is essential to capture photographs of every area within the rental unit. Remember to share these pictures with the tenants when handing over the keys. Similarly, when the tenants vacate, take photographs of the previously documented areas and compare them. This will enable a discussion on any damages that may have occurred and facilitate finding a resolution.
Tenant’s Background Check:
Among your Berkeley property management responsibilities, you must perform comprehensive background checks to ensure that responsible tenants occupy your property. Additionally, you can review all prospective tenants’ complete eviction history report before making a decision.
Endnote
As a landlord, it is wise to make informed decisions regardless of who you choose to lease your residential property to. It is advisable to familiarize yourself with state and local laws for tenants and landlords. Furthermore, finding responsible tenants is of utmost importance, so it is recommended not to rush into decisions. If you encounter difficulties reaching satisfactory resolutions even after discussions, seeking assistance from legal experts is highly recommended.
Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc, or its affiliates. Rental providers will not refuse to rent a rental unit to a person because the person will provide the rental payment, in whole or in part, through a voucher for rental housing assistance provided by the District or federal government.