WeHo Proposal: Tenants Pay 50% of the Cost of Earthquake Retrofits

West Hollywood’s Rent Stabilization Commission has proposed that tenants pay 50% of what it will cost their landlord to upgrade their apartment building to protect it from a major earthquake. That charge would have a cap of $30 to $40 a month and would extend for 10 years.

Dan Yukelson is the Executive Director of the Apartment Association of greater Los Angeles and he says earth quake retrofitting is going to be very expensive no matter who pays.

“We’re looking at $7k or $10k per unit, so if you have a 10 unit building, it could cost upwards of $100k, plus the county is going to tap the property owners on the shoulder for more tax money. The owners in West Hollywood are just small mom and pop owners, who made a passive investment in real estate. It will force a lot of people to sell their buildings which won’t help anyone.”

The city is recommending that tenants share some of the cost of the required retrofit to reduce the likelihood that a building owner might decide to sell his building rather than carry the cost of retrofitting it.

Yukelson was a guest on McIntyre in the Morning.

Sharon Reardon, KABC News