Under Los Angeles Rent Control laws, a Landlord in Los Angeles cannot lawfully collect rent from a tenant until that Landlord has complied with L.A.M.C. § 151.05(a), which provides that all rental units must have a current Certificate of Registration with the City of LA and the tenant has been provided with that current Certificate of Registration. The Landlord’s noncompliance with Section 151.05(a) is a common and typical defense we see tenants bring in eviction actions. Simply put, many Landlords who own maybe one or two income properties, may not be aware of the Rent Control rules in Los Angeles, and therefore have never registered their rental units with the City.
L.A.M.C. § 151.11(B) states that : “A tenant may withhold the payment of any rent otherwise lawfully due and owing after July 1, 1979 until such time as the landlord has complied with Section 151.05 A. of this chapter. Once the landlord has complied with Section 151.05A. of this chapter the tenant becomes obligated to pay the current rent and any back rent withheld pursuant to this subsection.”
Thus, if you are a landlord and you have a tenant who has failed to pay rent or is refusing to pay rent because you don’t have a Certificate of Registration, then you are best served with obtaining the Certificate of Registration, presenting the current Certificate to your tenant, then serving the failure to pay rent notice. Therefore, when your eviction action is filed, that common defense is no longer available to the tenant or his/her tenant rights lawyer.
If you are a Landlord in Los Angeles and have questions regarding an eviction, contact one of our Los Angeles Eviction Attorneys today for a free, no obligation consultation.