Soft-Story Retrofit in Palms, Mid-City and Pico-Robertson: The Order, Cost Recovery, and the September 30 Grant Deadline

For Owners · City of Los Angeles · September 2026 · 9 min read

Walk down almost any residential block in Palms and you will see the building type this post is about: two or three floors of apartments sitting on posts over an open carport, cars parked where a ground-floor wall should be. Mid-City and the streets around Pico-Robertson have their share too, usually an older courtyard or a boxy postwar building with tuck-under parking off the alley. Engineers call it a soft story. The City of Los Angeles has required owners of these buildings to retrofit them, and a lot of owners in 90034, 90019 and 90035 are somewhere in the middle of that process right now.

The engineering is the engineer’s job. What an owner has to manage is everything around it: the deadlines on the order, the tenant notices, the paperwork that lets you recover part of the cost, and a state grant with a registration window that closes on September 30, 2026. This post walks through each of those in the order they come up.

Does the ordinance reach your building?

The rule lives in Division 93 of the Los Angeles Building Code, adopted through Ordinances 183893 and 184081. Under § 91.9302 it applies to existing wood-frame buildings that were permitted or built under codes in effect before January 1, 1978, and that have ground-floor parking or similar open space with stories above. The Department of Building and Safety describes the target as two or more stories of wood frame.

There is one exemption owners tend to misremember. The ordinance does not apply to a building with three or fewer dwelling units if the building is used solely for residential purposes. So a triplex over carports is out. A fourplex is in. And a building with a storefront on the ground floor and three apartments above can be in, because it is not solely residential.

If the building is covered, the city will have served an order on the owner of record. If you bought recently, or inherited the property, and you are not sure whether an order exists, check the building’s permit and inspection record with LADBS or call the Soft-Story Retrofit Unit at (213) 482-7638. A Certificate of Compliance on file means the work is done and signed off.

The clock, and why buying the building does not reset it

Section 91.9305.2 gives three deadlines, each counted from the date the original order was served:

The code adds a sentence every buyer should read twice: “Transfer of title shall not change compliance dates.” If you are in escrow on a Palms eight-unit with tuck-under parking, the seller’s order is your order, on the seller’s timeline. The time to ask for the order, the plans, the permit status and any inspection history is before you remove contingencies, not after.

The penalty section, § 91.9311, makes it unlawful to maintain or occupy a covered building that has not met the standard after receiving an order, and treats it as a misdemeanor subject to prosecution or administrative enforcement. There is an exception while the work is proceeding within the time limits or within an extension the department or the board has granted. A slow retrofit with a permit or an extension on file is not the problem. No permit, no extension and a lapsed deadline is.

Your tenants have to be told, including the ones who have not moved in yet

Section 91.9307.1 requires the owner, once the city determines a building is in scope, to advise all current and prospective tenants of that determination, using a format approved by the Los Angeles Housing Department for residential tenants. That second group is the one that gets missed. If a unit turns over while the building is under order, the notice belongs in the lease packet with the rest of the move-in disclosures, where it does not depend on someone remembering.

The Tenant Habitability Plan

Most buildings old enough for this ordinance are also old enough for the Rent Stabilization Ordinance, and for rent-stabilized buildings a seismic retrofit usually triggers a Tenant Habitability Plan. LAHD requires a THP when permitted work does things like modify the foundation or structure in a way that exposes the building frame or compromises security, weather protection or fire protection, and a soft-story retrofit tends to do exactly that at the carport level.

The plan names the owner and contractors, lists every affected tenant with current rent and last increase date, lays out the scope, timeline and cost estimate, and describes how the work will affect habitability: noise, utility shutoffs, hazardous materials. It also has to explain the mitigation, including how tenants will not be left in untenantable conditions outside 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Tenants can appeal the THP determination within 15 calendar days after the owner serves it, and LAHD schedules a hearing within 30 days of a timely appeal.

Two practical points. First, the code says plainly that doing the retrofit work does not by itself make a unit uninhabitable (§ 91.9307.2), but if the department decides the work does affect habitability under Civil Code § 1941.1, relocation benefits are owed. Second, most of the work happens where the tenants park. Losing half the carport for weeks at a time is a predictable source of complaints, and it is something a THP can plan around if someone sits down with the contractor’s schedule early. Our part is the tenant side: serving the notices, working out temporary parking, keeping the building’s other maintenance moving while the crew is there, and keeping a record of every notice served.

Recovering part of the cost from rents

For rent-stabilized units, LAHD’s Seismic Retrofit Work Cost Recovery Program, in effect since February 12, 2016, lets the owner pass through up to 50% of the total seismic retrofit cost, divided equally among the rental units, as a rent increase of no more than $38 per unit per month. The base period is 120 months, and LAHD says the recovery period may be extended until the full approved amount is collected.

Here is what that looks like with round numbers. These are illustrative, not an estimate of what any retrofit costs. Say an eight-unit building has $120,000 in approved retrofit costs. Half is $60,000, or $7,500 per unit. At $38 a month, that takes about 197 months to recover per unit, a little over sixteen years, which is why the extension language matters. The program does not make a retrofit cheap. It shares the cost over a long time.

The application has to be filed within 12 months of completing the work. LAHD’s list of what goes with it:

• a current RSO registration certificate
• the Tenant Habitability Plan and the declaration that it was served
• documentation of the costs: contracts, invoices, proof of payment
• a rent roll with move-in dates and current rents
• the final permits
• the Certificate of Compliance

Every item on that list is easier to assemble while the job is running than a year later. The easy way to lose cost recovery is not a denial. It is running out the twelve months hunting for a proof of payment from a subcontractor who has since closed. Tenants can appeal the rent adjustment determination within 15 calendar days of the postmark on LAHD’s letter, so the file also has to hold up to a hearing.

The EMR grant: registration closes September 30, 2026

The California Residential Mitigation Program, run by the California Earthquake Authority and the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, offers an Earthquake Multi-Unit Retrofit (EMR) grant. The City of Los Angeles is one of the participating cities. For 2026 the program lists these requirements:

• 5 to 10 units, multi-story, wood frame, built before 1991
• tuck-under parking or other open ground-floor space
• the owner has received a notice and order to retrofit from a city with a mandatory ordinance
• a full ground-floor retrofit to one of the recognized standards (FEMA P-807, IEBC Chapter A4, or ASCE 41)

The grant covers up to 70% of engineering fees, capped at $7,000, and up to 70% of retrofit construction cost, capped at $4,260 per unit. On a ten-unit building that is up to $42,600 toward construction plus up to $7,000 toward engineering. Registration for 2026 runs from August 19 through September 30.

The condition that knocks owners out is timing. CRMP says that retrofit construction started before its approval, whether or not finished, makes the project ineligible. If you have an order, a building in the five-to-ten-unit range, and no work started yet, register before the window closes and do not let anyone start construction until the approval is in hand. A fourplex is covered by the city ordinance but falls below the grant’s five-unit floor, and an eleven-unit building is above it.

If you receive a grant and also file for LAHD cost recovery, tell LAHD about the grant and ask how it affects the approved cost. We would not assume the two stack.

The property tax question to raise with your CPA

California’s Revenue and Taxation Code § 74.5 excludes qualifying seismic retrofit components from reassessment as new construction. The Los Angeles County Assessor’s claim form, BOE-64, has to be filed before the project is finished or within 30 days of completion, and the supporting documents are due within six months after completion. The owner, contractor, engineer or architect certifies to the building department which parts of the project are seismic retrofit components. If the job also includes a kitchen remodel or new balconies, those are not covered, so the line between the two should be drawn on the invoices from the start. Ask your CPA how the project will be treated for depreciation and taxes. That part is outside what we do.

Where a property manager fits

We do not design retrofits and we are not a contractor. What we do on a building under order is keep the calendar, the file and the tenants in order: track the three deadlines against the order date, get the tenant advisory into every current and new lease file, coordinate the THP service and the schedule with your contractor, keep rent collection and routine repairs running through the job, and assemble the cost-recovery package as invoices come in so it is ready the month the Certificate of Compliance issues.

Our flat-fee management covers maintenance coordination and rent collection for one predictable monthly amount rather than a percentage of rent. Leasing is a separate fee. Call us for a quote on your building and tell us where the retrofit stands.

For the neighborhood side of owning here, including the RSO rules, the historic preservation zones in Mid-City and the Beverlywood homes association, see our page on property management in Mid-City, Pico-Robertson and Palms. If you are weighing earthquake insurance alongside the retrofit, our note on earthquake insurance for LA rental owners covers the deductible math. Owners with buildings across the city line should know that Culver City and Beverly Hills have their own mandatory retrofit ordinances, separate from the Los Angeles program described here. For the rest of what is different there, see our Culver City and Beverly Hills pages.

Frequently asked questions

My building is a triplex over carports. Am I covered?

Not if it is used solely for residential purposes. Section 91.9302 excludes buildings with three or fewer dwelling units that are purely residential. If there is a commercial space in the building, the exemption does not apply, and you should check the permit record for an order.

I bought the building last year. Do I get a fresh seven years?

No. Compliance dates run from the service date of the original order, and the code says transfer of title does not change them. If the deadlines have passed, talk to LADBS about where the building stands and whether an extension is possible before you do anything else.

How much can I raise rents to pay for the retrofit?

For rent-stabilized units, up to 50% of the approved retrofit cost, split evenly across the units, at no more than $38 per unit per month. The base period is 120 months and can be extended until the approved amount is collected. You have to apply within 12 months of finishing the work, and tenants can appeal the determination.

Can I start the work now and apply for the EMR grant later?

No. CRMP treats construction started before its approval as disqualifying, even if the work is not finished. Register first, get the approval, then start.

Do my tenants have to move out during the work?

Usually not. Most soft-story work is at the parking level, and the code says the work alone does not make a unit uninhabitable. If LAHD decides the work does affect habitability under Civil Code § 1941.1, relocation benefits are owed, which is one reason the Tenant Habitability Plan should be realistic about the schedule.

Is there a way to keep the retrofit from raising my property taxes?

Qualifying seismic components can be excluded from reassessment under Revenue and Taxation Code § 74.5. File form BOE-64 with the Los Angeles County Assessor before completion or within 30 days after, and have your CPA review the rest.

Sources and disclaimer. Los Angeles Municipal Code, Chapter IX, Article 1, Division 93 (§ 91.9302 scope and the three-unit residential exemption, § 91.9305 compliance requirements and time limits, including that transfer of title does not change compliance dates, § 91.9307 occupant and tenant advisory and Tenant Habitability Plan, § 91.9311 violation and penalty); Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, Soft-Story Retrofit Program (Ordinances 183893 and 184081, scope, deadlines, Soft-Story Retrofit Unit contact); Los Angeles Housing Department, Seismic Retrofit Work Program (50% pass-through, $38 per month, 120 months and extension, 12-month filing window, required documents), Tenant Habitability Program and Seismic Retrofit Appeal for Tenants (15-day appeal periods); California Residential Mitigation Program, Earthquake Multi-Unit Retrofit (2026 eligibility, grant amounts, August 19 to September 30, 2026 registration, prior-work ineligibility); Los Angeles County Assessor, Claim for Seismic Safety Construction Exclusion (BOE-64) and Revenue and Taxation Code § 74.5. Current as of September 2026. This is general information for property owners from a California DRE-licensed property management company, not legal, engineering or tax advice. Program terms, grant amounts and deadlines change; confirm your building’s status with LADBS and LAHD, have a licensed engineer evaluate the structure, and consult a California landlord-tenant attorney and your CPA before serving notices, starting work or filing for cost recovery.