“Virtue is more to be feared than vice, because its excesses are not subject to the regulation of conscience” Adam Smith

The County of Los Angeles has approved a six month ban on evictions moving the ban up to July 25, 2025. This includes all 88 cities within the County of Los Angeles and was motivated by the wildfires. The boards also approved a maximum penalty of 50,000 for price gouging. What they were seeking originally was a 12 month moratorium but agreed unanimously to six months.

EXCEPTIONS. This ruling applies to “no fault” evictions, I am not an attorney, but if you were to have a tenant who is being evicted for any reason, I would urge you to speak with your real estate attorney or your Apartment Owner’s Association to determine the best plan of action. This ruling pertains to “qualified Tenants” as defined by the County of Los Angeles. These tenants would have to have been financially impacted by the wildfires and their income needs to be 150% or less of the area median income, have applied for wildfire relief and applied for unemployment assistance or other qualifying programs. My suggestion is, along with speaking to your attorney, check out the County website: https://recovery.lacounty.gov/fema-rental-assistance-program/

RECOVERY FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE. Many foundations have agreed to fund relief such as The Dodgers, Magic Johnson, L.A. Rises and FEMA. If you have tenants who are in need you might want to refer them to some of these sources. There are more than 650 Million in total funds available. This moratorium affects areas in counties that are far away from the actual fires, but it may affect your tenants work situation and thus their ability to pay rent, so any way you can assist your tenants could be helpful to you as well.

ANOTHER ISSUE FOR HOUSING PROVIDERS. We have had serious roadblocks with the rent control requirements, City and State, along with increased regulations covering security deposit limits, and eviction moratoriums after COVID. It seems that the regulations keep piling up, but the best advice is to maintain your building, raise rent whenever possible and now, more than ever, comparison shop for goods and services. One more thing I would add: be EXTRA vigilant when choosing a new tenant. Evictions are more difficult than ever (even without moratoriums) and doing that extra due diligence, making that addition call to references or taking a look at your prospective tenant’s former residence could make all the difference.

“Its the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen. John Wooden

What we at PRS PROPERTIES CAN DO. We can give you a good idea of the current value of your building. We can suggest changes you might want to make before sale to give you an idea what type of building you would be able to exchange into. You may decide to stay in the rental business or you may want to move into a more passive real estate investment, such as a triple net or a DSL.. We are always available to chat. We can give you referrals for professionals, such as lenders, contractors, and engineers, so that you can decide who you feel best with. We can supply you with rent and sale comparable in the area of your properties, so that you know what rental values are in your area. It is important that you know the true value of your rental units, so that you can get them rented right away at market value, or at least as much as possible with rent control restrictions. We can look at potential purchases that you may be interested in to make the property more desirable, and maybe look at potential issues that an insurer might require you to repair.

If you should decide to sell your building, we can help you exchange into a larger or smaller properties. We can even help you move into something with less management responsibilities. We can also help with getting the paperwork together for a refinance if that is your desire. We can also recommend experienced licensed contractors who can perform any repairs or installations you may need prior to selling. We can also look at your building for other easy and inexpensive changes that might allow you to get a higher value. We can help you to get the maximum value for your property, should you decide to sell, or the maximum return if you are planning to keep your building.

We are currently looking for “as-is” properties and are willing to purchase with low rents, deferred maintenance or even with a problem tenant in place. We can offer a 7 day escrow and all cash at closing. Give us a call. We have also put together numerous transactions over the years which involve properties that are not listed for sale. Many investors are currently in 1031 exchanges and need to identify a replacement property before their 45 day identification period runs out.

Should you decide to put your property on the market, we will put together an aggressive, targeted and professional campaign to get your property sold fast. We have been doing this for over 40 years, and we will use all the tools available to bring you the most dollars at closing. If you are thinking of selling or are just curious about the value of your property, don’t hesitate to give us a call.

We look forward to a prosperous 2025 and we look forward to be of any help we can to buyers and sellers of multi unit properties.