Page 32 - AAGLA-JULY 2022

Letters to the Editor
On The Growing Homelessness Problems
I have been a member of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles for many years now and appreciate the work the organization has done over the years to help me manage my properties. One area where there has been lacking assistance and information is the increasing problem of homeless and homeless people who trespass on or around our properties. Assistance from any City Councilmember’s office, which used to include engaging social service agencies to provide services to help relocate, feed and house the homeless, is now worthless (calls are not returned, and limited advice offered is merely to call the police who do not respond!).
The police are now ineffective at helping with this issue, escorting homeless off the property only if and when they come at all, and only to have the homeless return minutes after the police drive off. The police are unwilling to arrest the homeless, even though we have followed Los Angeles Municipal Code 41.24 with the required notice to police and posted signage, since the homeless are now released immediately without bail. And the police strongly encourage us property owners not to engage with the homeless since they are often mentally unstable and attempts to escort them off the property may, and have, resulted in violence and threats.
Enclosing the properties with fences and gates or hiring private security to “guard” the property is very expensive. And short-term “fixes” like increased (glaring) lights, playing classical music in the areas the homeless like to camp on our property, and physical barriers are not of much effect for the worst-case trespassers.
Does the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles have any advice or direction on how to deal with these issues, which must be increasing all over the areas where its members own properties? If not, I suggest you put together a webinar on how to deal with these issues, including possible liability for claims by the homeless (e.g., that they were assaulted and / or injured when removed by private security).
Howard S., Beverly Hills
(Editor’s Note: This would be a good topic to address in a webinar or in Apartment Age magazine along with concerns all of us have for the growing crime rate in the Greater Los Angeles area. What we have done here at the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles and often suggest for multifamily property owners, is to hire a security service to patrol once per day and/or on call to move the homeless along. In addition, flat surfaces can be made uncomfortable to sleep on by adding materials that protrude from flat services.)
32 JULY 2022 • WWW.AAGLA.ORG
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