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Today, we are still in the midst of the City of Los Angeles eviction moratorium and rent freeze, and there’s no other ordinance like this that remains in effect anywhere in the U.S. today. While inflation runs out of control at unprecedented levels not seen for the last 30 or more years, our rents are frozen until some unknown future date and then one more year thereafter – yes, there’s a 12-month ‘tail’ on the rent freeze. How is that going to work out for us? Do not the officials in the City of Los Angeles get it?
We are being pulled at both ends with not only rent that has been frozen, but billions in uncollected rent due to government-imposed eviction moratoriums. Yet, we have seen no relief from property taxes, rising insurance premiums, higher gasoline prices (OMG, the near $5.00 per gallon gasoline prices!... sometimes more!), doubling of Systematic Code Enforcement Program (SCEP) fees, more than 7% increase in trash hauling fees, permitting every tenant and their representatives to allege harassment for up to $15,000 in penalties, and allowing untold numbers of occupants and pets into our properties. At some point, while pulling us from both ends, the rope is going to snap.
This is all really crazy stuff when you think about it... there’s no logic or business sense in any of it. Even renters who were unaffected by the pandemic, who stayed employed and those who are well off were protected by the City of Los Angeles’ draconian measures that have forced many of us to provide housing services for free and to freeze our pricing for our valuable services. Watching all of this “go down” is like watching the circus, and for the City of Los Angeles, the circus has, long ago, come to town and remains there entrenched at City Hall.
By in large, we are passive investors that have purchased investment properties in or near the communities we live in to house our neighbors and in hopes of one day living our retirement dreams.
Many of us had been recent or long-ago immigrants that have saved, put our family members to work in a small business, and sacrificed so that we could purchase an investment property as a seemingly secure income stream and/or to house our families.
However, for the past two years, whether paid or not, we continue to respond to calls from our renters to repair and maintain plumbing, appliances, windows, and more. Sometimes (seems like mostly in my experience) these calls come in on holidays or weekends, when finding a plumber or electrician to do the work is nearly impossible or costs two-to- three times more for after hours or weekend work. Seemingly, we are the ones being punished for a housing problem although we have invested our hard-earned money in and have sacrificed for the only one solution that could solve the problem, which is owning and managing rental housing. This just smacks with irony that the clowns over there at City Hall would want to ‘shoot,’ what in this situation, is merely the messenger.
So, what’s next? In the face of seemingly rampant crime, housing shortages, and the unhoused (forget about the shitty streets and sidewalks), our outgoing mayor has proposed plans to create more green spaces throughout the City of Los Angeles. However, the last time I read the news, Mr. Mayor Garcetti, using large plots of land for parks only leaves us less space to build badly needed housing. And Mr. Mayor, what about that severe drought we are having? How will all that new “green” ever stay “green?” The proposal for more green space, like so many other concoctions brewing in the minds of the City Hall clowns, just does not make sense like many other policies in the City of Los Angeles. Let us all just hope we try something practical that works but often thinking logically and taking the first steps to plan and implement a solution is an approach that never seems possible under the Big Top at City Hall.
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APARTMENT MANAGEMENT MAGAZINE
20 FEBRUARY 2022 - APARTMENT MANAGEMENT MAGAZINE AMM2