A Better Way for LA to Improve Housing Conditions

A week ago, the Los Angeles Controller’s Office released what it called the “Top 100 Rental Properties” list in LA.

As I started going through the addresses, I noticed something interesting. I recognized many of the properties not because I was involved in them, but because a surprisingly significant number of them have traded over the past few years.

Roughly 16% of the buildings on the list have sold within the last 4 years.

That raises a bigger issue.

Instead of focusing on landlords who are acquiring troubled properties and investing capital to clean up years of deferred maintenance and violations, the City is publicly shaming owners who may have inherited these problems through recent acquisitions.

If the goal is improving housing conditions, discouraging buyers from taking on distressed buildings and rehabilitating them seems completely counterproductive.

The reality is the City should be encouraging private owners willing to invest their own capital into improving older housing stock with aging systems and long-standing violations, not publicly targeting them while they attempt to fix the problems.