By Mary O’KEEFE

There is a lot of misinformation, anxiety and concern when it comes to the rights of renters and landlords. To help with these many issues in the City of Glendale, the city has created offices that can assist those who feel lost in the rental world.

“Glendale renters’ rights [cover] five major areas,” said Sipan Zadoryan, City of Glendale senior analyst. Those five areas are: just cause eviction, relocation assistance, right to lease, intentional disrepair and rent reduction. Details on these five areas can be found on the city’s website www.glendalerentalrights.com.

Information that is available is specific; for example, some of the reasons for just cause eviction include non-payment of rent, lease violation, nuisance, illegal activities, unauthorized sub-tenancy, denial of access and smoking in prohibited areas.

“There are protections against unjust evictions,” Zadoryan said. “Landlords can’t just randomly decide they want a tenant out.”

Depending on why the eviction is activated the landlord may owe the tenant relocation assistance.

“If a landlord increases the rent over 7% it triggers the relocation benefits for the tenant,” he added.

The state’s rent cap is presently 8.8%; however, there are different exemptions so that 8.8% rate may not apply every time, he added.

“That’s why we need tenants to call us. We can look at the details to understand where they live,” he said. “We have a new clause that was just passed that went [into effect] on March 7. If a landlord takes away a service that was originally in the [tenant’s] lease the rent has to be adjusted accordingly.”

In addition, if landlords allow the rental unit to intentionally go into disrepair, they have to move the tenant out temporarily to remediate the disrepair, he added.

Glendale tenants can run into all types of issues and may not know if their landlord is in violation of state or local laws and ordinances. They can find information by visiting the Glendale Rights website or by calling (818) 548-3926 or emailing rent@GlendaleCA.gov.

Zadoryan said his office staff can reach out to landlords and gather more information and work with the tenant and landlord.

Glendale Rental Rights receives calls on a variety of issues – not just from tenants but from landlords as well. There was an increase in calls when COVID-related relief came to a close but those calls have lessened.

Landlord calls usually pertain to how certain programs work and how a tenant who is being difficult can be evicted. Often the issues experienced by both tenants and landlords are not something Zadoryan’s office can deal with but, for example, there might be some type of structural issues, like leaking roofs. For those issues Zadoryan refers to Peter Zovak, assistant director for community development. Zovak can send out investigators to examine the property and then contact the landlord.

“The inspections are done through our Code Compliance Office,” Zovak said.

Recently tenants of the Barrington Plaza in Santa Monica got a huge win when a Superior Court judge ruled against landlord Douglas Emmett, who had issued 577 eviction notices to tenants. The reason for the mass eviction, according to the landlord, was so fire sprinklers could be installed. Eviction notices were sent in May 2023 and some tenants had already moved; however, over 100 tenants were still at the complex. This ruling allowed them to stay. Some were long-term tenants who pay far below market rates due to Santa Monica’s rent stabilization ordinance.

One reason tenants were afraid to move is they would not be able to find affordable housing.

Being evicted for “repair” reasons, like the ruling made in Santa Monica, is something tenants shared during public comment at past meetings of the Glendale City Council.

This is another area where Glendale Rental Rights and Neighborhood Services can help. The two offices work together as well as with other agencies in Los Angeles County. Zadoryan added it is always better if tenants and landlords have a relationship of open communication; but if that is not the case, his office works to open those lines of dialogue.

“There are a lot of situations where the landlord might not be aware of these [rental] laws and the tenant is afraid to communicate,” he said. “[Neither the tenant nor the landlord] should be afraid to communicate with the other.”

If the situation cannot be worked out easily Glendale Rental Rights does make referrals to other social service agencies that can possibly help.

It should be noted that CVW has recently witnessed these two Glendale housing departments work together to help residents in a local rental complex.