Landlords get a bad rap, but Arnold Epstein says he’s one of the good guys. He hasn’t raised the $3,700 monthly rent on his income property, a seven-bedroom house in the Valley, in 2.5 years.
When that tenant told him he wouldn’t be able to pay April’s rent because his dry cleaning business had dried up, Epstein says he felt sorry for him. “It’s terrible,” he says. “He has a family to feed.”
Los Angeles has cut renters a break: No one impacted by COVID-19 has to sign a check to their landlord right now. But with rent due on May 1, 12,000 renters across California plan to withhold payment as part of a nationwide strike to compel lawmakers to cancel rent and mortgage payments, and more landlords like Epstein are getting nervous about how they’ll pay their bills.
What City Hall did is right, Epstein says, but it’s going to hurt small landlords like him. “They’re making me the bank. And I’m not a corporation. I’m not Blackstone,” he says, referring to one of the world’s largest real estate companies. “I don’t have the wherewithal to do that.”
The California Rental Housing Association, which represents more than 22,000 rental property owners who lease out more than a half million units, and the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, say the solution is a relief program where the state would cover the cost of at least some of the rent and pay it directly to landlords.
“Many landlords are so small, they’re mom-and-pops. They depend on that rent to supplement their retirement incomes and put food on their tables,” says Daniel Yukelson, executive director of the Los Angeles apartment association. “They’re going to be in severe financial peril today.”
Tenant organizer Zerita Jones, a retired grocery store manager who shares an apartment with her 78-year-old mom in Baldwin Hills, is one of the leading voices in today’s rent strike. She’s not paying rent this month, but she agrees that property owners should not be left holding the bag.
“It’s not their fault. This is no one’s fault,” she says. “I think all of it should be canceled—mortgages too.”
It’s easy to see why landlords are maligned in the press. In Los Angeles, management companies have sent misleading and altogether inaccurate information to tenants about their rights during the coronavirus crisis. But some landlords are helping tenants.
Mike Werner, who owns four rental properties in West Hollywood, Hollywood, and Studio City, says he has offered to lower rent while stay-at-home orders are in place and during 90 days after that.
The associations have only come up with a framework for a relief program, but the general idea is that the state would help offset rent so property owners could stay in business, and continue to pay contractors, like gardeners and handymen.
“When there aren’t rents, the system just dies. Without the cash, we can’t keep the system running,” Werner says.
“When all of this started to happen, we downloaded all of the vendors we had used over the past few years—there were 103 local vendors. I’ve already received calls from a half-dozen begging for work,” he says.
In LA, Mayor Eric Garcetti is expected to approve $1.15 million in rental assistance for residents who earn $58,540 or less a year (that’s 80 percent of the area’s median income). For qualifying tenants, the city will pay up to half of the monthly rent—up to $1,000 per month for up to three months—directly to landlords. That’s enough money to help 380 households, according to the local housing department. There are about 862,000 renter households citywide.
“There are few real offers of help being provided to rental housing providers, if any at all,” Yukelson says. “I’m the last person to advocate for socialism, but this pandemic has been very, very tough.”
Comments
For a strange reason, I don’t feel sorry for the renter of that 7-bedroom house.
…and the landlord either.
By Ivan III on 05.01.20 2:17pm
I keep reading that rent in LA are going down because people can’t pay rents, but I don’t see it.
Maybe, $100 less when an apartment has been empty for 80 days, that’s all.
By Ivan III on 05.01.20 2:20pm
Nope.
Rents are going up, as "rent cancellation", "rent freeze" and other new draconian socialist concepts are floated. Landlords are inclined to both book higher rents in anticipation of even lower RSO increases, and they’re hopeful to have applicants who will eventually move out.
Renter greed has consequences.
By smartalex on 05.01.20 6:23pm
I see that $1,400 apartments attract a lot of views on hotpads, etc.
I see that many good $1,800 apartments were not rented on May 1. Some prices were lowered. We’ll see what will happen on June 1.
I don’t know about $3,000 apartments. Many new apartments are in that price range.
By Ivan III on 05.04.20 9:29am
A 7 bedroom house in the Valley for only $3700 bucks?! It must be in Sylmar…
By Cocomonstr on 05.03.20 11:32am
We’re still in the phase of this mess where most the reporting is on the number of cases and if there is a vaccine, treatment etc. That will soon give way to the tremendous financial hardship this is causing and the long term impact it will have. We very soon need to get people back to work because the states and federal government don’t have the funding to fully support tens of millions of people all over the country for indefinite amounts of time. I read one prediction that there will likely be biblical famines in several countries due to the freezing of economies across the globe that could kill over 100 million people.
By LAoneWay on 05.01.20 2:24pm
Half of LA jobs are in the service economy, which won’t open soon.
Actors and studio personnel.
Uber drivers, Bird scooter rechargers.
Airbnb house cleaners.
By Ivan III on 05.01.20 2:51pm
And… their household received ~$3.1k PLUS they are receiving FULL PAY via unemployment. (2.6 avg household x $1200)
There is virtually no reason for anyone for at least 4 months to not pay rent.
Plus the state/city has everyone locked down and not going out and spending. Expenses have been cut for many.
By Constituents on 05.02.20 6:02pm
OR FULL PAY BECAUSE THEIR EMPLOYER RECEIVED PPP
By SF LARRY on 05.02.20 6:30pm
Where are you getting these numbers? They are pretty far removed from reality, especially when you consider the fact that actors and studio personnel and uber drivers etc – anybody who is an independent contractor, freelancer, gig-worker, self-employed – couldn’t even file for unemployment in California until this past week (Tuesday April 28, 2020) because it took California EDD that long just to update their system for it.
By Cocomonstr on 05.03.20 11:37am
Thanks for posting this article. The first I’ve seen that acknowledges that landlords are being impacted as much as tenants in some cases. I’m one of the mom and pop landlords mentioned. Living on social security and rent payments. My tenant still has a job and full salary but has stopped paying rent. I have a mortgage that is barely covered by the rent. Not all landlords are the bad guys and not all tenants are the good guys.
By davidduane1 on 05.01.20 3:16pm
Many tenants are richer than mom & pop landlords reliant on the net rental income as their "pension" income.
By SF LARRY on 05.01.20 7:24pm
You’re a mom & pop land-Lord, in multiple states, including the most expensive housing market in the entire country?
By JohnnyBlades on 05.01.20 9:27pm
Yes, Johnny. I bought a few houses back in 1990 (SF) and three on MLK in South Berkeley in 1993 & 1994). Big deal. Houses in Berkeley back then were like $100K – $200K in S Berkeley. I bought my SF house for $324,000.
Guess what? The houses and condos in Phoenix were 1/3 that price. I sold some along the way.
By SF LARRY on 05.02.20 6:48am
You bought half a dozen houses in four years? What’s your net worth, pop?
By JohnnyBlades on 05.02.20 8:29am
yes. and put down 20% with my tenants paying off/down my loans.
That was only $65,000 + $36,000 + $24,000 + 42,000.
By SF LARRY on 05.02.20 9:08am
So you were wealthy at 35, wealthy enough to snatch up half a dozen buildings in an urban market in one swoop, and have since enjoyed that comfortable position for decades and decades, and now you’re a touchy rent-check gathering multimillionaire going on blogs to cuss and cry hardship in the midst of a recession
so you’re "pop" in the sense that you’re old
By JohnnyBlades on 05.02.20 9:53am
I’ve never cried hardship. Can’t you read AND comprehend.
I do have a great respect for legal binding contracts. I’m also glad that in California and Arizona unemployment claims were approved very quickly followed quickly by the addition of the CARES act extra $600 per week.
And, you have no clue what is wealthy and what is not. Nor any understanding of property ownership because real estate equity isn’t spendable cash in the bank. It doesn’t mean anything until you sell or exchange.
But I get it. You don’t like that people like me in their 30s saved a ton, bought a few houses, held onto them long-term and built up a little net-worth. That qualifies as rich and greedy because you have saved nothing….
By SF LARRY on 05.02.20 10:59am
Perhaps we’d have a better "clue" of how wealthy you were if you divulged your net worth and then we entered it into the net worth percentile calculator together?
Kinda sad to be an old multimillionaire and crying about it, and lying about it, and then saying ‘all my haters must be broke jealous losers!!’ when it’s pointed out
By JohnnyBlades on 05.02.20 11:09am
you entire post smells of envy and jealousy.
I don’t cry. Only when my checking account at BofA slips under $40 million. (ha)
Btw, I’m still working and lovin’ it.
I know Johnny…all landlords are greedy and wealthy scum
By SF LARRY on 05.02.20 11:12am
‘all my haters must be broke jealous losers!!"
Just you. I enjoy the posters here EVEN with those who don’t agree with me.
So…Just you JB…
By SF LARRY on 05.02.20 11:24am
Wow Johnny, you really sound like a jealous loser. And I’m not a landlord nor a property owner of any type.
Keeping middle class people fighting each other over who has a tiny bit more money is what the mega-rich and corporations want. Direct your ire toward real issues.
By abcd12345 on 05.02.20 3:01pm
durr: Larry is mega-rich, and effectively a corporation, genius— that’s the entire point!
He is neither "middle class" nor a "mom and pop" landlord; he is a greedy multimillionaire with a turnkey job, bitching online about people poorer than him, during a recession
~~WHOOSH~~
By JohnnyBlades on 05.02.20 8:10pm
you jelly
By LosFeliz$ean on 05.03.20 1:16pm
~~WHOOSH~~
~~WHOOSH~~
By JohnnyBlades on 05.03.20 4:31pm