Interior Decorator · Los angeles, CA · Member since 2016 · 26 posts · 34 votes
Hi I just bought a 4 unit apt building near USC and all the tenants are giving me issues. They currently have no lease with old landlord and were paying $800 rent a month for a 1 bedroom. Each unit has over 5 people living in them and one unit there are 10 people living. I gave them notice that rent will increase to $1300 or they have an option to take $4000 for keys. All the tenants say they will take me to court. Any advise for Los Angeles?
Make sure you talk to an attorney before you do anything else! They are right, you can't raise their rent more than 3% if the building is rent controlled and it probably is. Tenant relocations usually run 45-75k per unit in LA. Did you get estoppel certificates before you bought? Did you check to see what year the building was built? Do you plan to renovate the entire thing? If so you may be able to do an Ellis Act eviction. But you need a lawyer fast!
I have 1 tenant left and the other 3 units are in the process of being remodeled. Even if the tenant stays I already have offers for the building. It's 5 min from USC and investors are in a bidding war. I have been remodeling 5 plus homes a month for the past 10 years with my retail company, I am not looking to be like the flip or flop actors.
@August Faustino That LA RSO is bad. I have a friend who has a duplex where one unit is fixed up and nice and gets $1600 for a 2 br. The other side of the duplex is exactly the same exept it looks like a slum and he's getting $650 for the same 2 br. The tenants destroy it and have been in a REAP program in the past where the city steps in and takes 50% o the rents in an escrow program.
If your property is rent control (which it sounds like it is), do not take any action against tenants until you've spoken to an eviction lawyer. Rent control tenants have a lot of leverage and they can legally come after you if you don't follow the required legal process.