Sean Belk
Staff Writer
Long Beach city staff are planning to develop a more proactive code-enforcement process for multi-family buildings that would “safeguard the stock of decent, safe and sanitary rental housing in the city.”
Affordable-housing advocates applaud the program, however, they say that it’s only the “first step” to keep landlords accountable for “substandard” dwellings.
According to a statement provided by Jacqueline Medina, spokesperson for Long Beach Development Services (LBDS), the proposed Multi-Housing Habitability Ordinance/Program (MHHP) would establish a “multi-housing habitability inspection program designed to maintain livability standards, prevent blight, secure citywide compliance and help to ensure tenant protections by using best practices that are more efficient, effective and conducive to the City of Long Beach.”
A date for when the ordinance would be brought forward to the City Council for discussion is yet to be determined, she said.
The new ordinance comes after affordable-housing advocacy group Housing Long Beach and other organizations called on the City earlier this year to propose a rent escrow account program (REAP) among other requests as part of Long Beach’s eight-year Housing Element planning document.
New programs that were added to the Housing Element include a “right of first refusal” program for displaced low-income residents and expanding the zoning code to include areas the City would allow emergency shelters by right and planning transit-oriented development, particularly along the Blue Line corridor on Long Beach Boulevard.
In addition, city staff proposed studying the possibility of a REAP, which is already implemented in the City of Los Angeles and allows residents living in “substandard units” to pay their rent to the City where it’s held in an account until code violations are fixed by the landlord.
During a Council meeting in January, however, city staff pointed out that it’s not clear if a REAP is needed in Long Beach, noting that only 24 rental units out of the 10,000 units the City deals with annually in code-enforcement issues have been deemed “substandard.”
At the request of former 9th District Councilmember Steven Neal, the Council approved a friendly amendment to have city staff come back with a full analysis of a REAP in addition to other programs throughout the state that deal with habitability issues for rental units by the end of this year.
The Housing Element for a REAP states that the City will “explore” the program and present a report to the Council by December. However, affordable-housing advocates are calling on the City to take action on the program rather than just explore it.
“We don’t just want exploration, we want action on a more robust accountability system,” said Kerry Gallagher, executive director of Housing Long Beach, in a phone interview.
Gallagher said it was thought that city staff would bring forward a REAP proposal to the Council in January, but she said that now appears not to be the case as city staff are not recommending such a program.
“Unfortunately, city staff has had a couple concerns about the program and aren’t interested in launching a new program,” she said. However, Gallagher added that some councilmembers are “supportive” of a REAP in Long Beach.
“At this point in our understanding, there is not going to be an ordinance placed before the Council by staff, we’re learning,” she said. “It’s going to have to be left up to the leadership for the Council. I don’t think it’s going to be something that’s led by city staff.”
Gallagher said city staff was required to submit a report on the possibility of a REAP as part of the new Housing Element, however, she noted that staff would be able to submit the report to the Council through a memo rather than at a Council meeting that would allow for public discussion.
According to Housing Long Beach, a REAP would allow tenants residing in “substandard homes” to pay their rent, or a reduced rent, to the City until their homes are repaired. “At no cost to the City, the program would repair “dilapidated units” and would protect tenants from “unfair retaliation,” according to the group.
“REAP creates city accountability and protects tenants from unfair retaliation,” Gallagher said.
Housing Long Beach notes that several California cities, including Los Angeles, Sacramento, Oakland, Santa Monica, San Francisco and Elk Grove, have adopted similar programs as a “cost effective way to improve the quality of the existing housing stock.” Â
In addition, Gallagher said the proposed housing habitability ordinance is the City’s codification of their “proactive code inspection process,” which recently moved from the City’s health department to the development services department.
She said Housing Long Beach supports a “robust proactive inspection process so it can identify substandard units.” However, she said the program is only “the first step,” adding that the City should “take it the next step by keeping bad-actor landlords accountable and protecting tenants through a program like REAP.”
Gallagher added, “Once we identify the units (through something like the housing habitability) we then need to make sure the improvements are made and that renters are protected from unfair retaliation.”
Housing Long Beach, which is hosting a Neighbors United Town Hall Meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 14 from 6pm to 8pm at 525 E. 7th St. Suite 111, surveyed over 600 renters in 2014 and found that 74 percent of the renters experienced one or more health and safety issues in the last year, including mice, roaches, bedbugs, plumbing issues, broken windows and lack of working utilities. Of those, only 63 percent told their landlord about the issue, and, of those, only 33 percent were able to get it fixed.
Additionally, only 5 percent of respondents actually reported the issues to the Long Beach Code Enforcement while 12 percent received a routine inspection by the City, according to Housing Long Beach.
