Los Angeles County Residential Landlords May Soon Be Required To Install Air Conditioners To Fight The Heat

Los Angeles County landlords may soon be required to install air conditioners in their residential rental units. Although no such mandate currently exists, and many apartments already have air conditioning, tenants in units without air conditioning have long complained of stifling heat in their apartments during the summer. That's one reason why the Board of Supervisors recently approved a motion authorizing them to begin investigating the issue and accepting public comment. 

Los Angeles' Long Hot Summers Keep Getting Longer And Hotter

The supervisors are investigating the feasibility of mandating a "maximum temperature" in residential rental units, meaning that all landlords would be required to keep their apartments below the maximum temperature. Those who can't keep their units below temperature would be required to install air conditioning or keep their units "cooling ready," which means making necessary modifications that would allow tenants to install their own air conditioning units.

Because the proposed ordinance is in a preliminary investigative stage, the maximum temperature has not been set. A similar measure went into effect for Palm Springs in 2018 and set the maximum temperature at 80 degrees. Although Palm Springs is a desert community, many parts of Los Angeles County, specifically the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys, experience triple-digit heat during the summer.

As climate change becomes more of a factor, those heat waves have become more frequent, more intense and more dangerous for tenants of rental housing without air conditioning. Even rental properties in the Los Angeles Basin, which used to be able to count on an ocean breeze to keep them cool in the summer can be uncomfortable during heat waves. The risk is especially acute for senior citizens, children and people with health challenges.

Battle Lines Being Drawn On Both Sides Of The Issue

Opinions on both sides of this issue are strong. Renters in Los Angeles County already pay some of the highest rents in the nation, and housing affordability across the county is relatively low. Naturally, they are very enthusiastic about the proposed rules and would probably like to see it become an official requirement as soon as possible. The city's landlords, on the other hand, are very concerned.

Master Metered Buildings And Rent Control Would Be Significant Hurdles

One potential sticking point in the legislation is the requirement that landlords make their units "cooling ready" to accommodate air conditioners for tenants who wish to install them at their own cost. However, the cost may not be borne solely by the tenant. Many rental units in Los Angeles County are master metered, meaning there is one electric bill paid by the landlord for all the units.

That means tenants could theoretically install air conditioners and the landlord would be forced to pay the electric bill for them. With a master-metered property, there is no way for a landlord to know which tenant is using how much energy. There would also be little incentive for tenants to save energy under this arrangement. What's to stop them from just running the A/C all day if they're not getting billed?

Complicating that issue is that so many of L.A. County's master-metered buildings are covered under rent control, which means landlords are largely prevented from making material alterations to the original lease, such as changing from landlord-paid electricity to tenant-paid electricity or issuing a new surcharge to cover the cost of air conditioning. If this measure is approved, accommodations will have to be made for this situation.

This Issue Will Become More Common

Copernicus, the European Union's climate service, reported 2023 as the hottest year in history. Suddenly, governments that never had to consider things like maximum temperature mandates are coming face to face with the issue of how to keep residential properties cool and who's going to pay the cost. This may be a Los Angeles Country issue now, but that doesn't mean it isn't coming to a community near you.

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