CITY PANEL MAKES CONDO RECOMMENDATIONS.Byline: KERRY CAVANAUGH Staff Writer The City Council's housing committee endorsed a set of recommendations and proposed ordinances Tuesday aimed at tightening rules on condo conversions Generally stated, a condo conversion is a process of entitling an income property or other lands currently held under one title to convert from sole ownership of the entire property (which often already is a multi unit property) into individual for sale units. while protecting elderly and disabled tenants. The proposals fall short of the moratorium A suspension of activity or an authorized period of delay or waiting. A moratorium is sometimes agreed upon by the interested parties, or it may be authorized or imposed by operation of law. sought by affordable-housing advocates who want to halt the condominium condominium In modern property law, individual ownership of one dwelling unit within a multidwelling building. Unit owners have undivided ownership interest in the land and those portions of the building shared in common. conversions sparked by the recent housing boom. But Councilman Herb Wesson Herb J. Wesson, Jr. is a California politician. He currently serves as a Los Angeles City Councilman. He represents the 10th district. He served in the State Assembly representing the 47th district from 1998 until 2004. , who heads the City Council's Housing, Community and Economic Development Committee, said he tried to strike a compromise because the condo-conversion policy could affect development in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. for decades to come. ``We were able to take a balanced approach to try and protect the rights of tenants. We have to ensure we don't adversely affect property owners, as well,'' Wesson said. Property owners, who were concerned that a citywide moratorium could hurt their investments, said the recommendations struck a good middle ground -- addressing affordable- housing concerns while protecting landowners' rights. Developer Brian Dror said the city could encourage more affordable housing without imposing extreme measures. ``Putting a moratorium on condo conversions will have the unwanted effect of ceasing to create first-time homebuyers First-Time Homebuyer An IRA owner who is exempt from the early-distribution penalty (which applies to IRA distributions that occur before the IRA owner reaches age 59.5) for distributing funds from his or her IRA to buy, build, or rebuild a home when having had no interest in a ,'' he said. But Alison Dickson with the Coalition for Economic Survival complained that the recommendations still require two to three months of study before the council can act. ``We're still losing 1,000 units a month to condo conversions and demolitions. These various motions provide some increase in benefits but they don't go to the heart of the problem.'' The recommendations include a requirement that elderly and disabled tenants be allowed to rent their unit for two years in a planned-condo-conversion building and one-year in a building slated for demolition. Also, evicted tenants could get up to $1,000 in moving expenses in addition to relocation RELOCATION, Scotch law, contracts. To let again to renew a lease, is called a relocation. 2. When a tenant holds over after the expiration of his lease, with the consent of his landlord, this will amount to a relocation. money, and they could possibly be able to buy their unit under a proposed purchase-assistance program. In addition, the city would appoint a task force to study incentives to develop more rentals. kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com (213) 978-0390 |
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