Most Los Angeles apartment owners renovating RSO properties are leaving money on the table — not because the city won’t reimburse them, but because they don’t know the program exists.
Under the LAHD Capital Improvement Program, owners of rent-stabilized buildings can recover up to 50 percent of approved capital improvement costs through monthly tenant surcharges. Roofing, flooring, security systems, appliances, and exterior work can all qualify — if structured properly.
In this video, Oron Maher, Broker-Director at Maher Commercial Realty, explains how this program works, why most owners miss it, and why the framework functions more like commercial real estate than traditional multifamily investing.
What RSO property owners need to know:
▶ Up to 50 percent of approved capital improvement costs can be recovered through monthly tenant surcharges under the LAHD Capital Improvement Program
▶ Qualifying improvements include roofing, flooring, security systems, appliances, and exterior work — categories that cover the majority of standard renovation scopes
▶ The framework functions like a NNN pass-through: owners recover approved improvement costs the same way commercial landlords pass CAM expenses to tenants
▶ Timing, documentation, and understanding how the city calculates reimbursement caps are the difference between full recovery and leaving approved dollars unclaimed
For RSO property owners in Los Angeles, this is not a loophole. It is a city-administered program that most owners are simply not using — and every renovation completed without a proper Capital Improvement filing is money that cannot be recovered after the fact.
📍 Maher Commercial Realty — Beverly Hills. Multifamily and commercial assets across Greater Los Angeles.
📩 Just completed renovations on an RSO property? Send us a DM to find out if you are recovering every dollar the city allows.
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