What Is REAP? – Owners

HOW DO I KNOW IF MY PROPERTY IS IN REAP?

You will receive a notice by mail once your property is accepted into REAP. The notice will indicate the units that were accepted into REAP and their corresponding rent reduction. Your property may also receive a visit from one of the Department’s REAP outreach service providers, who will provide your tenants with information about paying their reduced rent, and inform them of their rights and responsibilities with regards to REAP.

After a property is accepted into REAP, a notice is recorded on title, in accordance with LAMC § 162.11, informing prospective buyers or other interested parties that the property has been placed into REAP.

HOW ARE PROPERTIES ACCEPTED INTO REAP?

Upon acceptance into REAP, the landlord has the right to contest the Department’s decision to accept the property into REAP (LAMC § 162.06). A General Manager’s Hearing will be scheduled and a determination will be made whether or not to uphold the Department’s decision to accept the property into REAP. This decision can be appealed to the Rent Adjustment Commission’s Appeals Board, who may uphold or reverse the General Manager’s Hearing Officer’s decision.

Once the decision to put the property into REAP is final, the Department records a notice on the title that the property has been placed into REAP, and the Department establishes an escrow account into which eligible tenants can pay their reduced rent.

WHAT ARE THE RESULTS OF A PROPERTY BEING ACCEPTED INTO REAP?

The following will occur once a property is accepted into REAP:

Tenants of units accepted into REAP will be afforded a rent reduction, ranging from 10-50%, depending on the nature and severity of the violations cited on the property.

An escrow account is opened and tenants will be given the option to pay their reduced monthly rent into the escrow account, or to you as the landlord or property owner. Timely payment of the reduced rent either to the escrow account or to a tenant’s landlord fulfills a tenant’s normal rent payment obligation (LAMC § 162.09).

The Department assesses an administrative fee of $50.00 per unit per full or partial month that your property remains in REAP.

A REAP notice is recorded on the title of your property, indicating to interested parties that the property is in REAP. This notice on title can only be removed at the end of the REAP process.

A landlord outreach service provider will be assigned to your case to assist you with landlord rights as well as REAP related issues in order to expedite the correction of violations. The landlord outreach service provider may be contacted at:

The services of The Eberly Company and the other outreach service providers are provided free of charge to REAP participants.

A tenant outreach service provider will be assigned to your case to assist tenants with their rights and obligations.

The outreach service providers also participate in the monthly REAP Workshops run by the Department, alongside REAP, Billing and Collections, and Code Enforcement staff. The workshops offer information on the REAP process as well as best practices for maintaining your rental property.

HOW DO I KNOW IF MY TENANTS PAID THEIR RENT INTO THE ESCROW ACCOUNT?

If your property is subject to REAP, your tenants have the option to pay their reduced rent either to you as the property owner, or to an escrow account established by the Department.

If the tenants pay into the escrow account, you will receive a monthly statement specifying on what day and in what amount the tenants paid their rent. This information will allow you to ascertain whether the correct amount of rent was paid, based on the rent reduction provided by REAP.

Tenants may pay their rent by mail, or in person at the public counter of any of the Department’s regional offices.