Original URL: http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_12130255

After much debate and delay from multiple sources, the council may finally be able to settle on a new ordinance designed to protect tenants who are evicted so their rented apartments can be turned into condominiums or demolished.

The Long Beach-based Apartment Association, Southern California Cities, had some problems with the wording of the ordinance, which gives tenants the right to sue landlords if they aren't given their relocation benefits unless they move voluntarily. The association fears this will prevent landlords from evicting tenants for justifiable reasons, such as failure to pay rent.

Assistant City Attorney Mike Mais has rewritten the proposed ordinance, eliminating the controversial previous language and adding: "No owner or the agent of the owner shall evict a tenant in order to avoid the provisions of this Chapter."

While that has satisfied the association, the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, which is the organization that has advocated for tenants' rights throughout the process of creating the law, doesn't support the change, a report from Mais says.

But, saying the discussion is at an "impasse," Mais is recommending that the council approval the ordinance.

Other aspects of the new ordinance include giving low- income and "very-low-income" households that are displaced from their rented apartments $3,941 in relocation costs, instead of the current $2,500.

Qualified low-income and very-low-income seniors and households with a disabled member can receive an additional $2,000.

The residents would have to be notified of displacement due to a conversion 18 months in advance in most cases, although they would be able to sign a waiver to leave earlier and receive their relocation money within 72 hours.

Other changes to the law include new provisions that require disabled residents who have made structural modifications to their homes for accessibility purposes to be reimbursed up to $2,500, and that relocation benefits must have been paid before a final project map or demolition is approved by the city.

paul.eakins@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1278