Faulty electricity. No hot water. Pest infestations and persistent mold. For years, renters in Los Angeles have complained about landlords failing to address unhealthy living conditions — and local governments failing to hold those landlords accountable.
Now, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors is set to vote Tuesday on a proposal to overhaul apartment inspections and code enforcement in East Los Angeles, City Terrace, East Compton and other unincorporated parts of L.A. County.
“There need to be mechanisms when tenants are not getting the services that they're paying for,” said Oscar Zarate, an organizer with the nonprofit tenant advocacy group Strategic Actions for a Just Economy.
Ever since the organization started focusing on housing code enforcement in 2019, Zarate said he’s seen tenants let down by the county’s current approach.
“We have cases where there's been 22 inspections of a rental property with no compliance,” Zarate said. “These problems are very frequent, especially in working class communities. And we really need a system that is going to be effective in dealing with these challenges.”
The county proposal would create an approach to inspections and enforcement similar to programs that have been in place in the city of L.A. since 1998. Just like in the city, the proposed Rental Housing Habitability Program would require inspectors to visit every apartment in unincorporated L.A. County at least once every four years.
Under the proposal, landlords who persistently fail to fix code violations discovered by inspectors could have their properties put into a county-run Rent Escrow Account Program. Tenants in those properties would pay their rent into an account withheld from the landlord until necessary repairs are made.
Currently, the county inspects properties in response to tenant complaints. In some buildings, only 10% of units are required to be inspected under current rules.
Local landlord advocates say the county should be going after slumlords. But they argue against requiring routine inspections for all properties.
“We want to have safe, habitable housing,” said Fred Sutton, a spokesperson for the California Apartment Association. “Inspections and enforcement should be on bad actors. Those that have a history of compliance and run great properties should not have as many inspections and costs.”
The county proposal would fund the inspection program through an annual $86 per unit fee, half of which landlords could pass on directly to their tenants.
Sutton pointed to a 2020 report from the city of L.A.’s housing department, which concluded that inspection data revealed “95% of property owners are maintaining well-kept rental properties, and about 5% are not maintaining their properties.” He argued this justifies focusing routine inspections and fees on properties owned by landlords with a history of non-compliance.
Some tenants told LAist they want to see the county take a more proactive approach to making sure landlords provide safe, habitable housing.
“There should be more enforcement for obligating the landlord to actually do something,” said Jeremiah Espinoza, an 18-year-old who lives with his parents and three siblings in an East L.A. duplex that he says has lacked reliable electricity and gas service for more than a year and a half.
Espinoza, who's in his senior year of high school, said he learned how to use a generator to charge his laptop, which he needs to complete school assignments. But it’s unreliable.
“There are days where I can't charge my Chromebook,” Espinoza said. “Since the power went out, I haven't been able to have WiFi… Sometimes I have to go to the library or another family member’s house just to finish my homework.”
Espinoza’s mother, Erika, said she has filed complaints with the county’s Department of Public Health, but the landlord has failed to make repairs. She feels like she has no choice but to stay.
“Where should I go?” she said in Spanish. “The rent is too expensive. With six people and two little dogs, I don't have the ability to pay a very high rent right now.”
Even when county inspectors visit properties multiple times and issue a slew of code violations, tenants say there’s no guarantee landlords will fix problems in their buildings.
In 2021, when plans to reform county inspections and enforcement were just getting off the ground, LAist spoke with Lourdes Villegas, a tenant in East Compton who said her landlord was failing to address a roach infestation, faulty windows and a lack of hot water in her unit. A county inspector documented those problems and ordered the landlord to fix them.
Years later, Villegas says she’s still dealing with rodents, persistent mold, and windows that swell shut when it rains. The landlord has sent a handyman to make repairs, Villegas said, but she feels those fixes have been far from adequate.
“We just need to live in homes where we can live with dignity. That's all we're asking for,” she said.
Villegas is now represented by lawyers with the L.A. Center for Community Law and Action who are trying to mediate her case.
Joseph Miskabi, the attorney for landlord Ramon Rochel, told LAist this dispute is still in litigation, but his client is not aware of any open code violations at this time.
About 1 million people live in unincorporated L.A. County, which includes higher-income areas, such as Marina Del Rey and La Crescenta-Montrose. Code violations tend to cluster in lower-income areas, according to an analysis by Strategic Actions for a Just Economy.
Of the more than 10,700 code violations found by public health inspectors in unincorporated L.A. County between October 2016 and September 2021, the highest concentrations were found in various South L.A. neighborhoods and East Los Angeles.
If the board of supervisors votes to pass the proposal, inspections would begin six months after the plan is adopted.
Note: This proposal is listed as the second item on the agenda.
When: The L.A. County Board of Supervisors is meeting on Tuesday, April 16, at 9:30 a.m.
Where: Kenneth Hahn Hall Of Administration, 500 West Temple St., Los Angeles
How to listen and comment:
For people who live in L.A., the board of supervisors and city council have the most direct impact on housing affordability in your neighborhood.
The best way to keep tabs on your own local government is by attending public meetings for your city council or local boards. Here are a few tips to get you started.
