After a flurry of last-minute negotiations, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved the doubling and tripling of relocation fees that developers must pay to tenants who are evicted when their units are converted to condominiums.
If the ordinance is signed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, as expected, tenants who are notified that they are being evicted on or after April 11 would be eligible to receive the fees.
The move comes as part of a much broader concern in City Hall over the city's housing policy, or lack thereof. Even those on the council who supported the new fees said they do little to address the larger issue: the city's dearth of affordable housing.
The council was one vote shy of final approval of the new fees last week. The vote Wednesday, however, received unanimous support after several provisions were added or changed.
Most notably, tenants who have lived in their units for at least three years are eligible to receive over $2,200 more than they would have under the plan tentatively approved by the council last week, when the occupancy requirement was five years.
The new relocation fees apply to all apartment dwellers, regardless of whether their units are rent-controlled. It is the first significant increase in the fees since 2004.
Currently, a landlord must pay $3,450 to most tenants and $8,550 to those who are 62 or over, disabled or have minor children.
The new fee structure is:
* $6,810 to tenants who have lived in their apartments less than three years (or $14,850 for those older, disabled or with minor children).
* $9,040 to tenants who have lived in their apartments more than three years (or $17,080 for those older, disabled or with minor children).
* $9,040 to tenants whose income is 80% or below the area's median income, which is $55,450 for a family of four. ($17,080 if the tenants are also older, disabled or with minor children).
Councilman Herb Wesson, chairman of the council's housing committee, has been pushing for the new fees for several months. In particular, he supported linking the fees to length of tenancy and to income, also known as means testing.
Several council members expressed doubts about the means-testing aspect of the plan. They say it will lead to landlord-tenant disputes that will be difficult for the city to resolve and could lead to landlords discriminating against prospective renters to avoid paying higher relocation fees.
