Long Beach could create more protections for tenants facing remodel-based evictions

The Long Beach City Council on Tuesday, Dec. 7, will consider ways to further protect tenants from getting kicked out of their units because of substantial remodels, just weeks before a temporary ban on such evictions is set to expire.

The council will consider several staff recommendations, including amending the current Just Cause Ordinance by more clearly defining “substantial remodel” and giving tenants 90-day notices to vacate their units, among other remedies, and increasing relocation assistance.

Long Beach first enacted the temporary ban on landlords evicting tenants because of a substantial remodel, in July, a move seen as a solution to what housing advocates called a loophole in California’s Tenant Protection Act, which went into effect in 2020. That ban expires Dec. 31.

The act put a cap on rent increases and made more restrictions on when a landlord can evict a renter. But back then, some said property owners could still kick renters out by completing a “substantial remodel.”

To address that, the council passed the Just Cause Ordinance in February 2020, prohibiting landlords from evicting renters until they have filed permits for the work.

Then, in July, the City Council enacted its temporary ban and tasked city staff with looking into the feasibility of a renovation administration program as a long-term solution. Such a program would oversee a landlord’s renovation work and require them to offer help to tenants who must be displaced for that work.

The city looked at Los Angeles’ version of a renovation administration program, called a Tenant Habitability Plan, according to a staff report. Under that program, LA oversees notifying tenants, reducing renovation impacts, temporarily relocating tenants and the construction of the residential improvements.

But such a plan in Long Beach would cost the city at around $2 million, the city staff report read, and take at least one year to implement.

And, the staff report added, 82% of Long Beach housing units were built before 1980 and housing usually requires substantial renovations after 30 years. After 50 years, housing units require more frequent renovations, the staff report said, and more than 71% of Long Beach’s housing units are older than 50 years.

So the city needs to develop a quicker solution, the staff report recommended.

Instead, city officials could update the Just Cause Ordinance with more protections for tenants, including:

• Changing the definition of “substantial remodel” to include repairs that would require a tenant to vacate for at least 60 days instead of the current 30 days.
• More clearly defining what counts as a substantial remodel.
• Fining landlords up to $15,000, payable to a tenant, when a landlord has been found by a civil court to have intentionally violated the ordinance when issuing an invalid termination notice for a substantial remodel.
• Requiring property owners to notify the city when they undertake a remodel that would displace tenants, tracking data on this type of displacement and assisting tenants who are displaced.
• Requiring a 90-day notice to vacate for any no-fault, just cause termination of tenancy.

The staff report presented another option, in which the city could increase permanent relocation benefits to $4,500 per household for those who are displaced because of a renovation.

City staff has recommended the council either adopt updates to the Just Cause Ordinance, or some combination of a renovation administration program and increasing relocation benefits.

Housing continues to be a perpetual issue in Long Beach and California as a whole. The city recently released its housing plan to add 26,500 units in eight years and in November, updated its inclusionary housing laws to include more long-term affordability.