Bootlegged Apartments and Affordable Housing

Housing in Los Angeles is notoriously expensive. One way to address that is to create more supply, and the city council is considering a plan that would do that. The proposed measure would legalize so-called bootlegged apartments in the city. These are unpermitted units that are otherwise safe. The law would provide amnesty for those who built units without proper approval, provided the landlords guarantee some units would be affordable for 55 years. Some property owners, however, call that requirement a “dealbreaker.”