SEC. 152.01. DECLARATION OF PURPOSE.

(Added by Ord. No. 176,544, Eff. 5/2/05.)

In its adoption of Section 151.00 et seq. of this Code, the City recognized that displacement from rental housing creates hardships on renters who are senior citizens, persons on fixed incomes and low and moderate income households, particularly when there is a shortage of decent, safe and sanitary housing at affordable rent levels in the City. The City has also declared, in its adoption of Section 161.101 et seq. of this Code, that it is in the public interest of the people of Los Angeles to protect and promote the existence of sound and wholesome residential buildings, dwelling units and neighborhoods by the adoption and enforcement of such standards, regulations and procedures as will remedy the existence or prevent the development or creation of dangerous, substandard, or unsanitary and deficient residential buildings and dwelling units.

The primary renovation program has been established to encourage landlords to extend the useful life of the rental housing stock in Los Angeles by reinvesting in the infrastructure of their properties. Through rent adjustments authorized by this chapter, landlords are able to recover a substantial portion of these renovation costs. However, Primary Renovation Work involves the replacement or substantial modification of major building systems or the abatement of hazardous materials and, by its very nature, such work generally makes rental units untenantable, as defined by California Civil Code Section 1941.1, on a temporary basis.

This article is adopted to facilitate landlord investment in Primary Renovation Work without subjecting tenants to either untenantable housing conditions during such renovation work or forced permanent displacement. The tenant habitability program requires landlords to mitigate such temporary untenantable conditions, either through actions to ensure that tenants can safely remain in place during construction or through the temporary relocation of tenants to alternative housing accommodations. These two options should not be regarded as mutually exclusive but rather as complementary approaches that might be appropriate to different stages of the renovation process.