On April 23, 2024, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors enacted Chapter 8.53 of the Los Angeles County Code, which established a new proactive rental housing inspection program in the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. The program aims to ensure that rental units comply with habitability requirements, help property owners maintain property values, and preserve the housing stock.
The new inspection program is called the Rental Housing Habitability Program (RHHP) and will be administrated by the Department of Public Health's Environmental Health Division (DPH-EH).
The RHHP will inspect each rental housing unit in the unincorporated areas of the County of Los Angeles once every four (4) years. For these routine inspections, the RHHP will send a 30-day notice to the rental property owner (landlord) informing them that the rental housing property and units will be inspected on a specific day or range of dates, depending on the number of rental units on the property. The landlord is required to post these notices in conspicuous places on the property, so tenants are aware of the upcoming inspection date.
Within 24-hours of a scheduled routine inspection, the landlord is required to provide each tenant a written notice reminding them of the scheduled routine inspection and the need for the inspector to enter the rental housing unit to complete the inspection.
Routine inspections will begin in November 2024. RHHP will prioritize rental properties with 5 or more units that have a history of repeated habitability violations and 2-4-unit rental properties that have had 1 or more habitability violations during the previous two years. The 30-day notices for properties that have been prioritized, should begin receiving their notice in October.
No, the RHHP applies only to rental properties in the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.
RHHP applies to all rental housing properties with two or more rental housing units and tenant-occupied single-family homes within the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County and all rental housing properties registered in the County's Rent Registry.
Yes. The RHHP does not apply to:
Yes. To fund the RHHP operations, the County will collect a fee of $86 per rental unit from the property owner, on an annual basis. This fee will be charged as part of the Assessor's Property Tax Statement for the property. Beginning July 2024, the landlord may recover 50% of this annual per unit fee from the tenant by collecting a monthly fee of $3.58.
Inspectors will also conduct an inspection after receiving a habitability complaint. The inspector will contact a tenant within three (3) days to schedule an inspection of the rental unit within seven (7) days.
The inspector will introduce themselves; provide proper identification and state the purpose of the visit. The inspector will then request permission to enter and if granted, conduct an inspection of the rental unit. The inspector will inspect the rental property and units for conditions such as insect or rodent infestations, damaged walls/floors/roof/ceiling, lack of hot/cold water, inoperable plumbing fixtures, lead and mold hazards, lack of heating, lighting, electrical, ventilation, and other unsanitary conditions. The inspector will also ask the tenant(s) questions as to whether there are any issues in the unit that need to be addressed (cockroaches, rats, leaking plumbing, clogged toilet etc.).
If a tenant says there are habitability issues but refuses entry into the unit, the inspector will inform the tenant that unless the inspector observes a violation, it cannot be included on the Rental Housing Official Inspection Report (RHOIR).
The inspector will describe all violations observed at the rental property and/or the rental unit(s) on a Rental Housing Official Inspection Report (RHOIR). The landlord will be given a compliance date of 21 days to correct the habitability violation(s). The inspector will conduct a reinspection within five (5) business days of the compliance date to verify that the required repairs and corrections have been made.
Yes, the landlord may be granted an extension of the compliance date for up to 30 calendar days, if there is significant progress being made to correct the violation(s) listed in the RHOIR. The inspector will determine significant progress by reviewing the steps the landlord has taken to correct the violations documented on the RHOIR. The inspector will be looking for evidence of substantial advancement or improvement of the cited violations when determining whether an extension is warranted. The inspector may also evaluate whether extenuating circumstances have delayed corrections that would warrant an extension.
If a landlord does not correct the violations listed in the RHOIR by the compliance date, the case will be referred to the County's Housing Program Chief who will determine the next steps to obtain compliance, including the scheduling of an administrative hearing.
Not all repairs require permits, but for those that do, the rental property owner must obtain the necessary permits from applicable regulatory agencies.
Third-party inspection reports are not accepted as evidence of violations nor compliance for any habitability violations.
You may contact DPH-EH at 888-700-9995. A new phone number will be established specifically for the RHHP when the program is implemented, so please continue to check our website.
For questions on tenant and landlord rights and responsibilities, you may contact the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer & Business Affairs (DCBA) at:
Phone: 800-593-8222
Website: rent.lacounty.gov
Email: rent@dcba.lacounty.gov
Please email DPH-EH Rental Housing Habitability Program at DPH-RHHP@ph.lacounty.gov.
At this time filing with the Assessor is not required. Please complete the Rental Property Information and Verification Exemption Form indicating the property is removed from the rental market without filing any other document. If requirements change, you will be contacted by a representative from the Department of Public Health.
Last Updated: 07/2024
