A nervous neighbor of ours, knowing we blogged for AT, left an anonymous note under our door: Help, my landlord's a tyrant. He won't let us use our building's parking spaces and now I hear that he's trying to get us all out so he can raise the rents or sell the building. Who do I contact?
LA Good Questions: Help, I Heard My Building May Be Torn Down!
After we took a moment to be grateful that our landlord's a great guy, we did some research and discovered The Coalition for Economic Survival. A grassroots organization that conducts free tenant workshops Saturdays and Wednesdays, they're the place to call if you're having problems regarding your relationship with your landlord, want to know your renter’s rights, are frustrated that your landlord has neglected to make much needed repairs, or live in fear that your building may be sold and demolished to make way for luxury housing (a big trend in our neighborhood). For more information, click here
RELATED LINKS:
- Getting Evicted: Rent Control in the City of Los Angeles
- Eliminate All Rent Control in the State of California?
- Withholding or Deducting Rent for Repairs
- Being Displaced during Rental Repairs
- Los Angeles Allowable Rent Increases
- LA Good Questions: Landlord Possibly Sneaking into Rental?
[Image courtesy Rich Anderson]
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Yikes. These L.A. threads are all about evictions, problem landlords, buildings being torn down. It seems much bigger a problem than in other cities...
view Lisa Hunter (Montreal)'s profile
We have similar problems here in SF - It's quite common since many older buildings are rent-controlled...
view bepsf's profile
Contact the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) to file a complaint regarding the parking space situation. In LA landlords are specifically prohibited from doing this.
If your apartment is rent controlled your landlord is not allowed to evict you with out a legitimate reason. you can refer to the los angeles rent stabilization ordinance (larso....google it) to determine if your building is rent controlled and what legitimate reasons for eviction are.
if you get any kind of notice to evict or a notice of unlawful detainer contact an attorney or one of the free legal services who deal with these issues, (Los Angeles Legal Aid or Eviction Defense Netword or Bet Tzedek Legal Services (323-939-0506) )
view Allachka3's profile
My mother was an apartment manager for several years (the perfect job for a SAHM, IMO) and as far as I know, rents cannot be raised more than once and not more than 10% in one year, with the exception of new owners. (My rent was raised twice in 2007 because our building was sold. Boo.) Also, I'm afraid that parking is not regulated by the LAHD because of the terms stated in most general rental contracts. I would review your original contact to be sure; if there's no mention, then it's free game.
view angelabaca's profile
Sounds like the LL is trying to evict by intimidation, which is highly illegal, if the place is covered by the RSO. File a complaint with LAHD, and get a copy of their publication "Landlord-Tenant Handbook" and Nolo Press' "California Tenants' Rights."
view chez shoes's profile