Real estate is one of the most precious commodities worldwide and as each day passes in Southern California, the Los Angeles real estate market displays tremendous growth. Specifically, Los Angeles is quickly becoming one of the most sought after regions in real estate, evidenced by the large number of people flocking to the area. With such an influx in population, places to live are becoming harder and harder to attain. While only so many homes exist in the area (particularly the high cost homes in central Los Angeles) the rental community in the region has boomed. While the demand for rental units increases, public counsel firms- which provide great services to low income people- continue to use their abilities to help extort money from landlords. By permitting breaching tenants to live rent-free until a superior court can hear the unlawful detainer case, public counsel firms push our legal system to the limits.
Non-profit legal organizations, such as BASTA and Public Counsel use unwarranted tactics to unnecessarily delay trial. Specifically, a major reason our courts are so backlogged is because of the plethora of frivolous claims that run rampant in California Superior Court system. Real estate cases dealing with landlord-tenant relations are a primary target and vehicle used by non-profit legal organizations. This wastes property owner’s time and money and, more importantly, our judicial courts time. Most Los Angeles Superior Court Judges traditionally want unlawful detainer cases to be resolved within 45 days of the initial filing of the complaint. The reason for this short time frame revolves around the unlawful detainer process and hoping to expedite the process of these cases, due to their uniqueness and the possession of a highly valued asset.
Further, due to the nature of unlawful detainer cases and the pressure from an expeditious process, attorneys cannot charge regular fees to process and file them for clients. Instead, most attorneys use flat fees or lower their hourly rate, in order to handle such matters. However, when non-profit legal organizations request discovery processes comparative to actual criminal cases, including extensive interrogatories (seen as volume of questions that require written responses under oath) and other applicable discovery tactics, the small margins attorneys already work on becomes non-existent. As such, these tenants who are being supplemented with free representation by these non-profit firms are making it impossible for landlords to proceed with valid cases on their merits. Instead, landlords are forced to deal with months of nonpayment of rent from tenants, among other breaches of covenant of lease.
Sadly, laws in cities like West Hollywood, which originally were designed to protect tenants, make it impossible to kick bad-standing tenants out of apartments. Specifically, not to seem like tenants have no fight, but if a notice overstates past rent due by even ONE CENT, the notice will be deemed void by Southern California superior courts, even if the tenant owes THOUSANDS of dollars in back owed rent. As a result, people who have do not have enough money to be living in posh areas end up having the ability to stay and live rent-free for months at a time. In a bubble, this is a microcosm of the real estate collapse, but specifically in the area of real estate rentals.
Owning rental properties is not only a privilege, but also a business. Leases govern the rental industry and a lease can be seen as a contractual instrument that outlines the performance of obligatory duties that various parties are bound to. With all the pressures associated with the new laws, the interpretation of leases inhibits landlords to run viable businesses. This ultimately depresses our local economy and hurts good-standing tenants from obtaining places to live.
-Kevin Lipton, ESQ
Managing Partner – Lipton Legal Group, A PC – Beverly Hills, California