DEEGAN ON LA--Until now, politicos have placed dealing with the city’s affordable housing crisis on a very slow track, but that could change in 2016 thanks to David Ryu and the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council who are agitating for reform of the Ellis Act, and not a moment too soon. Ryu came to City Hall as a reformer, promising to listen to the communities he serves and take the actions they want. One of them – LFNC -- has asked him to tackle the issue of eviction by agreeing to act swiftly to push reform of the Ellis Act.
Considering that some of our lawmakers may live in pre-1978 Rent Stabilized Ordinance (RSO) housing, like thousands of their constituents, it cannot escape their notice that they, too, are vulnerable to the scourge sweeping through our city: the scandalous city-wide use of the Ellis Act to forcibly evict tenants from pre-1978 RSO buildings. These buildings are being torn down and replaced with characterless, bigger buildings with smaller units and higher rents. The original occupants are put out on the street -- figuratively, and sometimes literally. The most unfortunate may “double-dippers” – people evicted from affordable housing and welcomed into the ranks of the homeless.
The collateral scandal is why are the politicos not working harder and faster at finding a solution to the affordable housing crisis, exacerbated by the sharp increase in Ellis Act dominated evictions? That could now change.
Landlords using the Ellis Act evicted tenants from 725 units in 2014, up from 308 the previous year. That’s a nearly 250% increase in evictions in a single year, and the pace is quickening.
The Ellis Act, a California state law, provides a mechanism for landlords to exit the rental property business, including the terms under which multi-family rental units can be decommissioned. The Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO) regulates pre‐1978 multifamily properties, including the extent to which rents can be raised on an annual basis. It’s the RSO buildings, a large proportion of all housing stock, that are the targets of Ellis Act evictions.
The most recent egregious abuse of the Ellis Act just occurred in the Fairfax district. As reported by the advocacy organization, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE), two tenants were evicted by a landlord using the Ellis Act who then turned around and listed the apartments on Airbnb. What had been rental units priced at under $2,000 a month would now potentially bring the Airbnb operators up to $15,000 a month. That’s a 750% rental increase, for the exact same space, created through Ellis Act abuse.
Airbnb (AirBed & Breakfast) is an online service for finding short term lodging (a night or a few nights) in someone’s house or apartment, usually using an extra bedroom. Like Uber, it is part of the “sharing economy,” a wave of the future that is already here. But those being victimized by Ellis are also in a sharing situation: sharing pain.
The tenants are now suing for "damages and an injunction to return apartment units to tenants under previous rates,” charging that "landlords evaded the city's rent-control regulations and unfairly cash in on higher nightly rates" by switching from long-term to short-term rentals.
This summer, taking note of the housing issue, the Los Angeles Times editorialized about the need for creating affordable housing through a policy of “inclusionary zoning,” mandating that new market-rate developments include some "affordable" units. Unfortunately, in 2007 a developer named Geoff Palmer sued the city and won when he was told it was necessary to create market-rate units.
Things aren’t much healthier on the state level. Led by Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, the Legislature passed a bill in 2013 that would have allowed “inclusionary zoning” for apartment projects, but it was vetoed by Governor Jerry Brown. Playing it safe, Brown said he preferred to wait for the California Supreme Court to rule on the legality of the law; that it was better to listen to the courts than to depend on the advice of politicos who depend on developers and the real estate and landlord lobbies for campaign support.
Undaunted, Atkins continues to press for relief and has introduced Assembly Bill 1335 to raise funds for low-income homes by levying a $75 fee on certain documents required for real estate transactions.
On June 10, 2015, two Los Angeles city councilmembers introduced and seconded a motion, CF-15-0828 asking for a “study” of the issues related to keeping the city's dwindling supply of affordable housing intact, including "an annual cap on demolitions of rent-controlled buildings and withholding demolition permits until other permits for new construction have been issued.”
The timeline for this, which is still open-ended half a year later, started June 10 when the motion was made. It was then sent to the housing committee, four months later in October, and eventually to the full council that gave the go ahead to do a study, asking the Department of Housing and Community Investment (HCIDLA), the City Planning Department, the Department of Building and Safety and the Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA) to report back in 120 days.
It may be in April 2016 by the time City Council receives the report, and later still when they finally deal with it. This could add more months to the timeline and the matter may be in circulation for nearly a year before any action is taken. In the meantime, hundreds more tenants could be “Ellis-ed” out of their homes.
This timeline for possible reform is too long. And the solutions offered in CF-15-0828 may not even solve the problem. This “study” could end up as the paper equivalent of a photo-op. We cannot afford to be ruled like this.
While there’s no question that both state and city politicos are aware of the affordable housing crisis in big cities (it’s legendary in San Francisco,) what’s in doubt is their purpose, resolve and capability of doing something to help ease the shortages. So far, not much has come from them.
This shifts the initiative to the tenants, activated most recently by an aggressive board at the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council who voted for a hard-hitting resolution aimed at reforming the Ellis Act. Joined by their colleagues at the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council and a group of local housing rights activists, they recently met with staffers for California Senate President pro-Tempore Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) to discuss potential Ellis Act reform measures which could benefit all Los Angeles renters.
The Senator’s staff indicated a willingness to work on this issue by generating a list of necessary steps, the first of which is to gather support from members of the Los Angeles City Council.
In response to that charge, the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council sent a letter on December 15 to Councilmembers David Ryu (CD4) and Mitch O’Farrell (CD13), representing the Los Feliz and Silver Lake districts, asking them to “initiate a resolution requesting the Ellis Act be reformed by the California State Legislature, and that a moratorium on Ellis Act evictions be put in place until the law is reconsidered.”
Reformer Ryu (photo right) can make the motion and O’Farrell can second it, and between the two of them, the process will begin by early January when the City Council returns from recess.
The community points out, in their letter to Ryu and O’Farrell, that “such action will provide a valuable tool for Senator de León as he garners support for legislation that closes the Ellis Act loopholes. Additionally, you will be further empowering the Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO) which ensures affordable housing be available to the city citizens, including the elderly, disabled, and veteran population.”
When asked, David Ryu said "we recently received the letter and it's currently under review by our policy staff”. He has a good record, so far, of listening to his communities and trying to do what they ask. One of them has now spoken. Six months into his job, he should be able to take the lead and make this motion to initiate a resolution requesting the Ellis Act be reformed by the California State Legislature and that a moratorium on Ellis Act evictions be put in place until the law is reconsidered.
Clearly these neighborhood council leaders and connected community activists are headed in the right direction, ultimately aiming north to Sacramento. If David Ryu and Mitch O’Farrell introduce a motion for a resolution supporting reform of the Ellis Act, this will help Senate President Kevin de León make his case in the Capitol.
Now, that would kick off a Happy 2016 for renters.
(Tim Deegan is a long-time resident and community leader in the Miracle Mile, who has served as board chair at the Mid City West Community Council and on the board of the Miracle Mile Civic Coalition. Tim can be reached at [email protected].) Edited for City Watch by Linda Abrams.
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 103
Pub: Dec 22, 2015
