City Council

(3) 23-1126 HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS COMMITTEE REPORT relative to addressing various limitations of the Systematic Code Enforcement Program (SCEP). Recommendations for Council action, pursuant to Motion (Raman – Hernandez – Soto-Martínez – Hutt): INSTRUCT the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD), with the assistance of the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, City Attorney, and any other relevant Departments, to report to the Council in 60 days with recommendations to address various limitations of the SCEP and complaint-based inspections, with said report to reflect consultation with stakeholder organizations, including tenant advocacy groups and landlords, and consider findings produced in various reports compiled by such organizations; and, to specifically include an analysis and recommendations that consider the following: Provide avenues to increase compliance with timely and good quality repairs, as well as strategies to maximize efficacy of SCEP inspections such as providing tenants and landlords more notice, information, and resources prior to inspections and providing transparent updates on schedules, open complaints and citations, and assigned inspectors. Establishing clear protocols and remedies for common code violations, such as: Requiring before-and-after photos, including follow-up visual inspections to verify required work is completed. Providing landlords with pre-approved options for specific repairs. Collecting proof and receipt of completed work. Increasing coordination between various code enforcement units within the LAHD and with other Departments that interface with tenants and landlords on any relevant issues. Evaluating options to reduce delays for inspections, such as limiting opportunities for denying inspectors entry and expediting process for obtaining inspection warrants. Strategies to improve language justice and accessibility throughout the inspection process for tenants and landlords. Studying the use of escalated fines to motivate compliance with citations. Identifying resources to help small landlords with financial difficulties to make repairs. Assessing a potential process to allow tenants to file a petition with the Rent Adjustment Commission for a rent adjustment based on a landlord’s failure to remedy citations for violations of housing codes related to the habitability of a dwelling after a certain period of time. Considering adjustments to the threshold for triggering Tenant Habitability Plans (THP) that capture disruptive activities or temporary displacement of tenants due to required repairs that are not primary renovation, including the following requirements for non-primary renovation plans: Requiring that emergency repairs that must be completed within 48 hours will not trigger the requirement that a Tenant Habitability Plan form be completed. Determine and assign which staff will receive the plans and complete review within two business days unless there is good cause for longer time, such as the need for a permit. Provide that tenants shall have 5 business days to object after service by the landlord and that a hearing shall occur within 10 business days if there is no resolution between the parties in response to the objections. Evaluating existing shortcomings of THP, including appeal process, enforcement, notification, and length of time a tenant can be relocated under THP. INSTRUCT the LAHD, with assistance from any other Departments needed, to report to the Council within 60 days with information about how many rental properties subject to the SCEP are designated as Tier 1 and Tier 2, and among those how many have gone more than two or five years without a SCEP inspection, with said report to: Speak to program and staffing needs to effectuate 4-year inspection cycles for Tier 1 properties and 2-year inspection cycles for Tier 2 properties. Address staffing and resources needed to implement the strategies as detailed above and in the Motion. Fiscal Impact Statement: Neither the City Administrative Officer nor the Chief Legislative Analyst has completed a financial analysis of this report.