January 16, 2025 • 34 mins
ICYMI: Hour One of ‘Later, with Mo’Kelly’ Presents – A look at whether you need to pay your mortgage, rent, or utility bills after you’ve been forced to evacuate due to the SoCal wildfires & how SoCal residents can safely clean up after the Palisades & Eaton wildfires - on KFI AM 640…Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:22):
Can't. I'm o Kelly.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
We're live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. And welcome back, Stephan.
Where the hell you been? Who said that you could leave?
Did you get permission? Did you get a hall pass?
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I did?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Just want to make sure. Yeah, it's good seeing you.
Welcome back, Mark Ronner, whatever.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Hey, I have these things called feelings.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Come on now, no you tell them, come on, You're right,
you care, you care very little about very few things.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
The traffic on the way in gave me feelings. That's
what I got right now, you know what.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Let me start there, because it took me an exceptional
amount of time to get in today and I don't
know exactly why. Yeah, it took me about an hour
and twenty minutes, and I have no real understanding. I
can't quite say it's the holiday weekend traffic.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
I don't know if it's that.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I know there's still a lot going on, obviously because
of the fires, but earlier, because of the fires, we
had less traffic.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
People were staying off the road.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
I don't know if it's where to the point where
college kids are back now for their next semester or
next quarter. But today was really, really hellish when it
came to traffic.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
It's the worst I've seen it in quite a while,
and I have to admit it really kind of softened
me up to Tuala's air taxi pitch.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Oh, I'm open to the air taxi pitch.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
I just don't think it's actually going to happen in
any of our lifetimes. I don't think we're going to
see a flying car for the general public, especially in
the next twenty years. Well, and if it does, we'll
die in them. No, no, we will because we can't
even handle a two dimensional plane driving. So why would
you think in three dimensional space flying that we're going
(02:06):
to be any more responsible.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Now we have this whole system predicated on the idea
that these fast moving hunks of metal can never ever
so much as touch each other. How do you think
that's gonna work out when cars are flying? Yeah, look,
you're again on that two dimensional plane.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Okay, there's a car to left you, car to ride
to you, car in front of you, car behind you.
Now let's introduce cars above you and cars below you. No,
not happening. Good evening to Twalla Sharp, producer for the show,
is that hello, you all are hilarious. Let's get this
(02:45):
party on the road. Seriously, we have a lot of
serious business that we will cover tonight. We have updates
on the fires, of course, we have updates on some
of the unfortunate stats. For example, twenty five fire related
deaths reported so far, ninety seven fire zone arrests, which
include charges for burglary, looting, and vandalism. All of those
(03:09):
numbers that I just gave you are going to increase daily.
You can bet on that. We'll tell you about. Do
you have any type of remorse? Excuse me? Do you
have any recourse if you were forced to evacuate your home.
Let's say you've been out of your home for a
week and a half now you don't know when you
might go back. Do you have to still pay your rent?
(03:33):
Are you responsible for your mortgage? It's not like you
chose to leave. You were forced to leave. We're going
to get into that. And also, you probably have noticed
that the air quality, regardless of where you are, especially
if you're in an impacted zone, but even outside the
impact of zone, the air quality is not very good.
There are some things that you should be mindful of
(03:55):
to do and not do to make it worse. Wherever
you are. You might be thirty away and let's say
Long Beach. There are things that you should take to
heart as far as not doing to making sure your
immediate air quality does not get progressively worse. You know,
probably from Mark Ronner and other CANFI news anchors that
TikTok plans in immediate US shutdown on Sunday. I have
(04:20):
a lot of thoughts on that. In fact, we're gonna
do a little pretest and I'm gonna use Stepan to
help me out. Stephan, you didn't know that this was coming, No,
I didn't. I want you to open up a browser, okay,
on your computer. I don't care if it's Internet Explorer,
Explorer or Google chrom or whatever's out there these days.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Try that, bing yeah, bing, yeah, I hear. It's great.
Nothing I'm gonna use it. Nobody uses it, nobody?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
All right, Go to TikTok dot com. This is serious, okay,
all right? Does the website come up? It sure does?
Speaker 1 (04:57):
All right. Do you see an opportunity for you to
log in? Yes? All right?
Speaker 2 (05:05):
And if you try to log in, it should give
you the option of a QR code.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Yeah, right there, all right.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
If you try the QR code, tell me what happens
on your phone? This is this is very very important.
And while you're doing that, let me explain. And I'm
gonna get into this, but I want to set it
up now. TikTok being banned means that it will not
be in the Apple App Store store, it will not
be in the Google Play Store, and allegedly the app
(05:34):
will not be updated.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
But you Stephan.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Just logged in correct, Well, yeah, okay it and it
should come up on your phone.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
It came up as an option to download the app
through the Apple Store.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Oh on mine? Okay, So do you have the app
on your phone already? No, I don't have the app
because that's the only one I don't use. Okay, it
did give me the opportunity to download it. Okay. This
is what I can tell you. If you already have
it on your phone, it'll just open up, okay, and
you will not have to actually put the app on
(06:12):
your phone. It should should have gone to like a
web version of it.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Well I guess, yeah, because I guess since I don't
have it, it's taking me to go download it and
then yeah, I'm sure if I've had it, can I'm
sure would open up. I think Mark said his work Mark,
what happened with you?
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Yeah, thank you. It's on my phone, but I'm not
on TikTok. I don't use it, but apparently it's still
available in the app store. You can get it for
three more days.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
I suspect I suspect it's going to go to a
web based version. And if it goes to a web
based version, you would not need the app because.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
You can use TikTok right now.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
You can log in, yeah, and use it on your
desktop computer and it's not an app, and there's nothing
legally precluding you from using it as a web based service.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
You can upload your videos and everything.
Speaker 5 (07:04):
But isn't that worse if TikTok is spying and you're
actually logging on from your desktop browser or say it
from a work computer.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Ah ha.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Ah ha ah ha. We will get into that later
on tonight.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
In short, I don't think anyone really thought this through,
not at all, not even a little bit. And even
if TikTok goes away, it'll just be called something else,
and we're going to get into what that's something else
is called as well.
Speaker 6 (07:35):
You're listening to later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
And before the break, I was telling me about how
long it took me to just get to the studio.
I was commenting to a number of people in the office,
only like five people in the office, and we all
basically had the same conversation that today particularly was ridiculous
when it came to flow of traffic. And from what
(08:02):
I understand, Touala had a similar experience. Not sure about
Mark Ronner, but what was your experience like?
Speaker 5 (08:10):
It was literally like hell on earth, No, maybe hell
on the road, because it took me an hour and
a half to get here, and that's a trip that
typically should only take me thirty minutes at max. I'm
on the five heading to the one eight or I'm
on the one eighteen going to the five so I
can hit the one seventy, and all of a sudden,
(08:30):
there's a wall of red lights because I'm moving.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
I'm moving on the.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
One eighteen, I hit the five, I curve over. I'm like,
what are these lights doing here? What is happening? Why
are all these lights in my way? I need you
all to scoot along, and I got places to go.
On both sides, I see California High Patrol zoom by me,
and I'm like, oh, maybe there's something to happen up there.
But then I see them do the swivel of death.
Oh the traffic break. Yeah, but it's two of them.
(08:54):
It's not just one, it's two, so they really got
to stop the traffic. I make my way off the
freeway eventually, you know, it's that slow you're trying to
get off. I don't even remember what street it was,
but I'm like, I know my way around on the streets.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
I'm good, I'll take the streets. Okay.
Speaker 5 (09:08):
I get off of Rea instantaneously. I don't know where
I'm at, so I'm like, go north, You're gonna heart.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
You have GPS in your car, right, yes, But here's
the problem is it was moving slow, so it was
like telling me turn left, like and I had already
passed the left like two blocks ago. My too that
It's like, oh, what I could have used that information
ten second, Like I've.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
Heard the street is already two lives back. Turn right now,
and I'm like, oh, I don't know what's happened. So
the phone is moving slow, and I'm still getting more lost,
at least in my mind following the GPS. I'm like,
turn off the GPS. I'm navigating myself. And I said
to myself, you know what, after driving maybe thirty minutes dwala,
you can't really see that good at night while driving.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Get out of my life.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
I'm at the age where I will start making decisions
about whether I'm going to go to an event or not,
and what part of town is it is, and wondering
whether it's lit well enough because I'm at that age
where it's like, I'm not always comfortable driving at night.
I'm aware, I'm aware, you know, it's just the age.
(10:12):
Thing is real.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
Seeing the street signs, oh, get that? What would have
helped me, even if I'm using my GPS, if I
could see them in enough time. I'm like, oh, is
that the street? I don't even know? Make a U
turn wind impossible? I'm like, okay, I missed the street.
Wait should you be driving at all?
Speaker 2 (10:28):
I'm gonna jump in there, Mark, because I have to
renew my driver license in November.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
When I went to handle.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Some stuff at the DMV, and you know, it takes
a real long time for them to get to you.
I'm sitting down waiting for them to call my number
three nine I have.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Now nine one three I had.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
I'm sitting down and trying to memorize that whole sheet
of letters for when I come back to the path
of it, because I was concerned as to whether I'd.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Be able to pass the tests.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
So yes, and with like Tuala driving, sorry to step
up your story. Sometimes I'm guessing at the street sign
name that looks like an F t Z like you
have the eye doctor r N L Wheel of fortune.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
All right, grandparents, let me ask you this. Do you
have the depth perception thing where it's dark and there's
a red light tail lights in front of you and
you're having more trouble figuring out how near it is?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Kind of yeah, yeah, Mark, Yeah, that's why I stopped
playing basketball officiate basketball. But I don't play anymore because
my depth perception is not like it was, and you know,
shooting is all about depth perception.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
This is what I hear.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
No, my, I'm being serious because my eyes don't always
align anymore, so that you know, going from two D
to three D that's a problem.
Speaker 5 (12:04):
Okay, yeah, yeah, I a couple of times say this
out loud. A couple of times my proximity alert came
on while on the street a couple of.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Times to stop driving danger.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
I was like, damn, I gotta go get glasses because
I'm tripping right now.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
No, you need to take ubers. Look.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
The only thing in which I'm in agreement with Tawaul
about these autonomous taxis or vehicles. Hopefully by the time
that I have to stop driving, they will be fully
functional and I will not be dependent on anyone to
drive me around. I'm never gonna be wealthy enough to
have James as a driver home. James, No, it won't
(12:48):
be any of that. It'll it'll have to be my
own private way mo of some sort. Mister Kelly, that's right,
wait for the movie.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Oh yeah, it's gonna be a little less racist thuff
just to Kelly. Whatever.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Well, you gotta keep bringing my government name into this,
William Mark William Ronner.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
I'm not ashamed of mine. I mean, I'm not crazy
about it, but not ashamed of it. We got here
because of the bad traffic. Okay, you were telling the
swalla about the double traffic break going on.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
Oh no, that was horrible, and taking the streets was
even worse because I had no idea where it was
that even with the GPS. Finally me I got to like,
I think Roscoe, and I'm go, I know, Roscoe, take
Roscoe all the way down.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
I had no idea Roscoe was that long. I'm casting.
I'm like, like, what what did Roscoe get? Today? Did Roscoe?
Why is Roscoe so long? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (13:38):
It took forever in the day to get here.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
I don't know what it was today. It was really
really bad.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Yes, there were accidents, but it just seemed the cars
were much more voluminous.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
It's just more cars.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Politician in town times that I know of, I mean not,
you know, because Biden had his address, but that was
in I think from the Oval office.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
I heard it.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
I didn't see it. I assume he wasn't in La. Yeah,
I don't think he did it from the grove. Oh
you never know, you never know, you know, he could
have thought he was in Oval office and just ended.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Up be nice.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Oh God, put a foot up the guy's ass on
his way out the door.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Even yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, look, yeah, it wasn't trying
to be mean. I just took a shot out of
a cheap shot. Is there another kind? That's what I
thought there isn't another kind.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Let's see how the evening goes. I'll let you know.
I'm quite sure you will find out. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
And for some empirical experiments on that.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Also, I noticed that between Tuesday and Wednesday we were
under the impression, we had the expectation that the wind
was really going to be out of control, and at
least where I was living and am living today didn't
really feel much wind. And I was looking it up
on different way trackers, something like one or two miles
(15:01):
an hour. I don't know if well, I know that
does help firefighters and it doesn't make their job that
much more difficult.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
It may slow the spread of the fires.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
And I'm quite sure if you've been listening to Mark Runner,
you may have noticed that we're getting more containment on
all the fires and hopefully, hopefully we won't have an
another conflagration of a new fire here or there, we
won't have an arson attempt over there. And if we
can just stay with these fires that we've been battling
(15:32):
for the past week or so, then you know, we
can helpfully turn hopefully can turn the corner at this point, hopefully,
But I don't know was it wendy where you were
Mark or swallow, because we're in very different areas of
the city.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
I was up until the wee hours of the morning
and it was incredibly windy overnight.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Yeah, not by me.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Yeah, maybe I just slept through it because obviously got
off work at midnightish. Didn't have any real problem getting
home because driving my car is a little bit higher
profile than what I've had before. Is in suv you
feel the wind, you know it's moving the car to
and fro.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Didn't have that last night.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Don't remember the wind howling well into the night because
I didn't go home and just go straight to sleep.
It's impossible. So I think I was up to maybe
two two thirty or so. No northills.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
It was popping. Yeah, for me, the Friday was the
worst I could feel. It was my car, absolutely, I
was rough.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Yeah, but specifically last night, no, no, and today it
felt like a summer day.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
It was.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
It was actually hot, it was it was Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I was wearing a sweater and still wearing a sweater
and I felt like, gosh, I overdressed. I thought it
was going to be cold in like the fifties, and
it felt like it was seventy five eighty.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
I felt like I'm inappropriately dressed.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
Definitely by the time I got to Burman when my
temperature said like seventy nine, so.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
It was it was pretty warm today. Yeah, La can't
catch a break. It's like you would rather at least
be cold. It's already dry, We're already dealing with fires.
The last thing we need is eighty degree weather. It's
Later with Mo Kelly k if I AM six forty.
We're live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. And to get
serious when we come back, Let's say you are forced
to evacuate. It's an honest question. Now see if we
(17:17):
can answer it. Do you still need to pay your mortgage?
How about your rent? What about utility bills? We'll talk
about it next.
Speaker 6 (17:25):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Let's say if unfortunately, you are the some of the
people who were evacuated, or you lost your home, you
may be unsure as far as your financial responsibility. You
may be more importantly looking for a place temporarily for
you and your family. It may be a new apartment,
(17:51):
it may be a short term rental of some sort,
but you still have to consider your responsibility to your
living arrangement, be it a house or an apartment. And
the question that many people have is, well, do I
still need to pay my mortgage?
Speaker 1 (18:09):
How about my rent? What about utility bills?
Speaker 2 (18:12):
I mean, why would I be paying for water if
I can't even use the water or electricity? When I
can't even use the electricity? Have they turned off my meters?
Speaker 1 (18:21):
You know? When are they going to come for my payment?
Speaker 2 (18:24):
I may not be in a position to be able
to handle any of that great questions. Here are some
answers for you. Let's start with the possibility, though unfortunate,
that your home burned down. Obvious question, do you still
have to pay your mortgage? Well, homeowners affected by this
disaster are often eligible to reduce or suspend their mortgage
(18:48):
payments for up to twelve months twelve months if your
home was destroyed in a wildfire, what you need to
do first and foremost is contact your mortgage servicer as
soon as possible and go over your options. You could
be and this is not a guarantee, but you could
be qualified for a forbearance plan that will temporarily lower
(19:12):
or eliminate your monthly payment. And also it will prevent
late fees and foreclosure. And when I was going through foreclosure,
I spent many an hour on the phone with my
loan provider. And although it may seem daunting, the last
thing your loan provider wants is for the property to
(19:35):
go into foreclosure. They're about getting their money, and the
bank is not in the business of owning properties. They
would rather stay with you and work out something with
you than evict you for close on you. And then
they just have this empty property in which they're not
making any money at all, and they have to sign
(19:57):
sell off and for probably a loss or short that's
if your home burned down.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
What about property taxes?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
If your home or business was affected by the windstorms
or fires or both, you could be eligible for temporary
property tax relief through the LA County Assessor's office. You
would need to file a misfortune or calamity claim to
request reassessment of your property. You will qualify for tax
(20:29):
relief only if, and this is very important, only if
the damage to your property exceeds ten thousand dollars and
and you file your claim within twelve months of the incident.
You don't have to rush, but you still have to
be mindful of the fact that there is a clock
and it is running. So again, you will qualify for
tax relief only if the damage to your property exceeds
(20:52):
ten thousand dollars. And let's be real, that's not a lot.
It doesn't take much to exceed ten thousand dollars. But
you also have to file your claim within twelve months
of the incident, and that also figures into the issue
of well, if you are evacuated, you may not know
exactly when you be able to get back to your
property and be able to assess the extent, the financial
(21:16):
extent of the damage. But again, ten thousand dollars is
not a lot, and you should be able to file
that claim shortly thereafter.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
How about this.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Let's say you rent a home or your business was
damaged or destroyed. Do you still need to pay rent?
And this is a question that I get personally and
professionally all the time.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Under California law.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Your rental agreement will become void void if and only
if the rental unit is completely destroyed in a disaster.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Let me say it again.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Under California law, your rental agreement will become void if
the rental unit is completely destroyed in a disaster, that
is different from being evacuated. That's different from a building
being yellow tagged. But if it is red tagged and
is completely destroyed, you will no longer be required to
(22:19):
pay rent and your landlord must return your security deposit.
That is so very important. There are two parts to that. One,
you are not required to pay rent, and let's say
you have a twenty five hundred dollars deposit, which is
(22:41):
very common. You're obligated by law to get that money back,
which could be very helpful, at least in the short
term trying to secure some other place to live. So
you will no longer be required to pay rent and
your landlord must return your security deposit. But if your
rental unit is only partially destroyed and can't be lived
(23:03):
in like yellow tagged, you can choose to end your
rental agreement or.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Wait for your landlord to make necessary repairs.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
And you probably wonder well, let's say it takes three months,
you have to pay rent during those three months. No,
you will not have to pay rent while waiting for
repairs unless you move back into the unit. So if
your landlord hypothetically were to tell you that, yeah, you
can't live in this unit. We have fire damage, we
have smoke damage. We're gonna have to just gut the
(23:36):
inside and start over. It probably will take us three
to four months. Those three or four months that you
are not living in the unit, you by law, are
not obligated to pay rent because you can't live in
the unit. But if you were able to move back in,
all bets are off because you're using it as a residence. Yes,
(23:59):
the repairs may not be complete, but if you can
live there inconvenient it may be. If you can live there,
then the expectation is you'll be paying rent. You won't
have to pay for the repairs because again you're a renter,
but you will have to pay rent if you are
living there. If you're a landlord, you are responsible for
(24:23):
repairs after a disaster and have an obligation to make
the unit livable as soon as possible. How specific that
is not very What is as soon as possible?
Speaker 1 (24:34):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
We were talking about how just homeowners may have a
process of a year or more trying to be made whole.
From an insurance standpoint, you apply that to landlords in
a multi unit apartment building could take even longer. And
we talked about rent control. Let's say you live in
(24:57):
an area not directly affected by the fires, will your
rent go up? We have this concern about price gouging.
In fact, you probably heard it in the press briefers
briefings where they were saying like, hey, do not engage
in price gouging. They're going to clamp down on those
who try to do that. Well, I'm not holding my
breath because that's what people do. But California's anti price
(25:21):
gouging law is now in effect, and this limits rent
increases to no more than ten percent above pre emergency
levels after an emergency is declared. And that, to me
is that actually pisses me off. It's like, wait a minute,
they can still raise your rent ten percent after the fires.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Let's say you're.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Paying thirty four hundred dollars a month, and that could
be for like a one bedroom here in Burbank ten
percent three hundred and forty dollars, three hundred and forty
dollars out of nowhere for a disaster which they not
have impacted your building. But by law, legally, you know,
(26:05):
with the exception of the stipulation agreement. You might be
month to month, but let's say you're a month to month,
they can raise your rent three hundred and forty dollars Mark.
I hate to keep reminding people, but I have no
real understanding why we keep voting against rent control.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
I don't get it.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
I don't either, And as I said at the top
of the seven o'clock hour, with any natural disaster come
the vultures. And I've been keeping track on Reddit of
price gouging with landlords. People are reporting properties that were
up for rent that have doubled their rent by one
hundred percent. And if you're familiar with jud Legam, who
does the Popular Information website, very reliable consumer based news,
(26:50):
and he's reporting here that they've identified dozens of LA
landlords who have jacked up rents by as much as
one hundred percent after the fires and thousands of people
lost their homes. And he points out California is rent
gouging law, the ten percent thing. Just one example here
in Manhattan Beach, a five bedroom home listed on December
thirty first for eighty seven hundred and fifty per month
(27:12):
is now nineteen thousand, seven hundred and fifty.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
What kind of person does that.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Actually a lot of them. I don't know what kind,
but they're not atypical unfortunately.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
No.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Let's say you're wondering about your utility bills and we're
getting ready to go to break. Whether you have to
continue paying your gas, your water, your electricity, it all
depends on your provider. So you're gonna have to contact
Southern California Edison DWP.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
I don't know Golden State Water.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
You're gonna have to contact them directly and make sure
you can get something. This is my recommendation. Get something
from them in writing. Don't just talk to the person
on the phone and just assume, oh, okay, I don't
have to pay my gas bill right now because so
and so who I talk to on the phone says I.
Don't make sure that they can point you to a policy.
(28:04):
You can get something emailed to you which corroborates what
you may be told on the phone, so you're not
looking at some ridiculous bill six months from now that
you're not expecting, which goes back to repairs which need
to be made on your unit if you're renting, or
relative to your house and mortgage. Southern California Edison, since
(28:25):
we're talking about it, we're talking about southern California. Edison,
in relation to Altadena, has suspended billing for all customers
who live in the mandatory evacuation zones. But you have
to be clear on those boundaries and how or whether
it applies to you.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
We'll have more on this in just a moment.
Speaker 6 (28:43):
You're listening to later with Moe Kelly on Demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
We were talking about those who have been evacuated, those
who unfortunately have lost their homes in the fire or
have been evacuated and don't have a home to return to.
It might be yellow tagged, it might be red tagged.
And you're wondering, well, what about my utilities? Do I
keep paying them? Do I keep paying my mortgage? What
(29:09):
about my rent? I live in an apartment building and
the apartment building has been burned down, but I also
have bills connected to that apartment, such as electricity, such
as internet, such as a gas or water. And we've
been trying to just comb through this as far as
some of your responsibilities, and the short answer is this,
(29:31):
you should be proactive and contact your service providers just
to be sure that you are aware of their policies,
because even though I'm telling you what has been listed
and presented as fact, you should never leave it to chance.
You should contact your mortgage provider or your mortgage service.
(29:53):
So you should contact see LADWP, Golden State Water, SoCal Gas,
whoever may be, because they're not going to be uniform
as far as their policies and expectations of you as
a customer, and you would do better to find out
or work out a plan now as opposed to letting
(30:15):
it happen. And then you receive a bill for the
past three months or so and you realize, wait a minute,
why am I being charged for a service that I
could not use? There are things that you can do
right now to prepare yourself and also inform yourself. We
told you about Southern California Edison, which provides power to
areas which have been affected like Altadena. They are suspending
(30:35):
billing for all customers who live in the mandatory evacuation zones.
That's where I left off last segment. I wanted to
put an addendum on that and say be clear on
what Southern California Edison considers the boundary of the mandatory
evacuation zones. There are people who may have evacuated with good,
(30:56):
good reason, and they might have been under an advisory
for evacuation, it may not ever been deemed as mandatory.
And then all of a sudden you're on the hook
for something which you didn't expect to be on the
hook for. So contact Southern California Edison directly Southern California
Gas customers who lost their home or business. According to
(31:18):
this mind you, I say, contact them, but they say
you do not need to contact the company to end service.
The natural gas provider will forgive the current bill and
the most recent bill. For customers whose properties have been destroyed,
I would recommend contacting them directly and making sure it
is on your customer record that you've informed Southern California
(31:41):
Gas so Cal Gas that your house or apartment has
been destroyed or has been determined to be unlivable, so
that is on the record. You can have that as
a point a reference point later on if need be.
LADWP has paused billing notices in areas directly affected by
(32:01):
the fires. Again, what LADWP has chosen or or believes
is the area of people who have been directly affected
may be different from your understanding. So I would call
them and let them know, Hey, I've been affected. I
can't get in my house. Just want to make sure
(32:24):
that you've paused my billing. These are the things that
I would say that you should be proactive. Yes, you
may be not in your house, you may be in
a temporary living arrangement, and it may not seem like
it's a priority. But if in when you can, I
would get around to it just as soon as possible.
And you may also wonder, well, what about federal government aid?
(32:47):
You know, there are a lot of questions that we
still need answering. If you didn't know, you can receive
up to seven hundred and seventy dollars from FEMA under
its Serious Needs Assistance Program, and you can use that
for whatever you need, whatever supplies that you need. Let's
say you need water, let's say you need hygiene products.
It's not coming with any strings attached. Seven hundred and
(33:09):
seventy dollars. And also FEMA offers temporary housing assistance. However,
California must request that assistance for it to kick in.
I do not know whether the state of California, as
in Governor Newsom has specifically and pointedly asked for that,
But it's something that you can contact FEMA to see
(33:30):
what the status is on that. Those are just a
few things that I think can be helpful to help
you navigate this time of uncertainty.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
You may not be in your house.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
You may, as I said before, unfortunately have lost your house,
but you still have to be mindful of the financial
expectations that your mortgage provider may have wrongly or rightly,
the expectations of your power, your water companies which they
may be expecting. I say, be proactive if contact them directly,
(34:01):
make sure that you're on the record saying that you
do not have access to your house or your apartment,
and it's on the record so they can be no misunderstanding.
Later on I'm O'Kelly, It's later with mo Kelly ky
If I am six forty. We are live everywhere on
the iHeartRadio app k S. I'm k OST HD two
Los Angeles, Orange County Live everywhere on the Art Radio
Can't. I'm o Kelly.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
We're live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. And welcome back, Stephan.
Where the hell you been? Who said that you could leave?
Did you get permission? Did you get a hall pass?
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I did?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Just want to make sure. Yeah, it's good seeing you.
Welcome back, Mark Ronner, whatever.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Hey, I have these things called feelings.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Come on now, no you tell them, come on, You're right,
you care, you care very little about very few things.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
The traffic on the way in gave me feelings. That's
what I got right now, you know what.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Let me start there, because it took me an exceptional
amount of time to get in today and I don't
know exactly why. Yeah, it took me about an hour
and twenty minutes, and I have no real understanding. I
can't quite say it's the holiday weekend traffic.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
I don't know if it's that.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I know there's still a lot going on, obviously because
of the fires, but earlier, because of the fires, we
had less traffic.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
People were staying off the road.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
I don't know if it's where to the point where
college kids are back now for their next semester or
next quarter. But today was really, really hellish when it
came to traffic.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
It's the worst I've seen it in quite a while,
and I have to admit it really kind of softened
me up to Tuala's air taxi pitch.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Oh, I'm open to the air taxi pitch.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
I just don't think it's actually going to happen in
any of our lifetimes. I don't think we're going to
see a flying car for the general public, especially in
the next twenty years. Well, and if it does, we'll
die in them. No, no, we will because we can't
even handle a two dimensional plane driving. So why would
you think in three dimensional space flying that we're going
(02:06):
to be any more responsible.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Now we have this whole system predicated on the idea
that these fast moving hunks of metal can never ever
so much as touch each other. How do you think
that's gonna work out when cars are flying? Yeah, look,
you're again on that two dimensional plane.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Okay, there's a car to left you, car to ride
to you, car in front of you, car behind you.
Now let's introduce cars above you and cars below you. No,
not happening. Good evening to Twalla Sharp, producer for the show,
is that hello, you all are hilarious. Let's get this
(02:45):
party on the road. Seriously, we have a lot of
serious business that we will cover tonight. We have updates
on the fires, of course, we have updates on some
of the unfortunate stats. For example, twenty five fire related
deaths reported so far, ninety seven fire zone arrests, which
include charges for burglary, looting, and vandalism. All of those
(03:09):
numbers that I just gave you are going to increase daily.
You can bet on that. We'll tell you about. Do
you have any type of remorse? Excuse me? Do you
have any recourse if you were forced to evacuate your home.
Let's say you've been out of your home for a
week and a half now you don't know when you
might go back. Do you have to still pay your rent?
(03:33):
Are you responsible for your mortgage? It's not like you
chose to leave. You were forced to leave. We're going
to get into that. And also, you probably have noticed
that the air quality, regardless of where you are, especially
if you're in an impacted zone, but even outside the
impact of zone, the air quality is not very good.
There are some things that you should be mindful of
(03:55):
to do and not do to make it worse. Wherever
you are. You might be thirty away and let's say
Long Beach. There are things that you should take to
heart as far as not doing to making sure your
immediate air quality does not get progressively worse. You know,
probably from Mark Ronner and other CANFI news anchors that
TikTok plans in immediate US shutdown on Sunday. I have
(04:20):
a lot of thoughts on that. In fact, we're gonna
do a little pretest and I'm gonna use Stepan to
help me out. Stephan, you didn't know that this was coming, No,
I didn't. I want you to open up a browser, okay,
on your computer. I don't care if it's Internet Explorer,
Explorer or Google chrom or whatever's out there these days.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Try that, bing yeah, bing, yeah, I hear. It's great.
Nothing I'm gonna use it. Nobody uses it, nobody?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
All right, Go to TikTok dot com. This is serious, okay,
all right? Does the website come up? It sure does?
Speaker 1 (04:57):
All right. Do you see an opportunity for you to
log in? Yes? All right?
Speaker 2 (05:05):
And if you try to log in, it should give
you the option of a QR code.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Yeah, right there, all right.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
If you try the QR code, tell me what happens
on your phone? This is this is very very important.
And while you're doing that, let me explain. And I'm
gonna get into this, but I want to set it
up now. TikTok being banned means that it will not
be in the Apple App Store store, it will not
be in the Google Play Store, and allegedly the app
(05:34):
will not be updated.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
But you Stephan.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Just logged in correct, Well, yeah, okay it and it
should come up on your phone.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
It came up as an option to download the app
through the Apple Store.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Oh on mine? Okay, So do you have the app
on your phone already? No, I don't have the app
because that's the only one I don't use. Okay, it
did give me the opportunity to download it. Okay. This
is what I can tell you. If you already have
it on your phone, it'll just open up, okay, and
you will not have to actually put the app on
(06:12):
your phone. It should should have gone to like a
web version of it.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
Well I guess, yeah, because I guess since I don't
have it, it's taking me to go download it and
then yeah, I'm sure if I've had it, can I'm
sure would open up. I think Mark said his work Mark,
what happened with you?
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Yeah, thank you. It's on my phone, but I'm not
on TikTok. I don't use it, but apparently it's still
available in the app store. You can get it for
three more days.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
I suspect I suspect it's going to go to a
web based version. And if it goes to a web
based version, you would not need the app because.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
You can use TikTok right now.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
You can log in, yeah, and use it on your
desktop computer and it's not an app, and there's nothing
legally precluding you from using it as a web based service.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
You can upload your videos and everything.
Speaker 5 (07:04):
But isn't that worse if TikTok is spying and you're
actually logging on from your desktop browser or say it
from a work computer.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Ah ha.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Ah ha ah ha. We will get into that later
on tonight.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
In short, I don't think anyone really thought this through,
not at all, not even a little bit. And even
if TikTok goes away, it'll just be called something else,
and we're going to get into what that's something else
is called as well.
Speaker 6 (07:35):
You're listening to later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
And before the break, I was telling me about how
long it took me to just get to the studio.
I was commenting to a number of people in the office,
only like five people in the office, and we all
basically had the same conversation that today particularly was ridiculous
when it came to flow of traffic. And from what
(08:02):
I understand, Touala had a similar experience. Not sure about
Mark Ronner, but what was your experience like?
Speaker 5 (08:10):
It was literally like hell on earth, No, maybe hell
on the road, because it took me an hour and
a half to get here, and that's a trip that
typically should only take me thirty minutes at max. I'm
on the five heading to the one eight or I'm
on the one eighteen going to the five so I
can hit the one seventy, and all of a sudden,
(08:30):
there's a wall of red lights because I'm moving.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
I'm moving on the.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
One eighteen, I hit the five, I curve over. I'm like,
what are these lights doing here? What is happening? Why
are all these lights in my way? I need you
all to scoot along, and I got places to go.
On both sides, I see California High Patrol zoom by me,
and I'm like, oh, maybe there's something to happen up there.
But then I see them do the swivel of death.
Oh the traffic break. Yeah, but it's two of them.
(08:54):
It's not just one, it's two, so they really got
to stop the traffic. I make my way off the
freeway eventually, you know, it's that slow you're trying to
get off. I don't even remember what street it was,
but I'm like, I know my way around on the streets.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
I'm good, I'll take the streets. Okay.
Speaker 5 (09:08):
I get off of Rea instantaneously. I don't know where
I'm at, so I'm like, go north, You're gonna heart.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
You have GPS in your car, right, yes, But here's
the problem is it was moving slow, so it was
like telling me turn left, like and I had already
passed the left like two blocks ago. My too that
It's like, oh, what I could have used that information
ten second, Like I've.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
Heard the street is already two lives back. Turn right now,
and I'm like, oh, I don't know what's happened. So
the phone is moving slow, and I'm still getting more lost,
at least in my mind following the GPS. I'm like,
turn off the GPS. I'm navigating myself. And I said
to myself, you know what, after driving maybe thirty minutes dwala,
you can't really see that good at night while driving.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Get out of my life.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
I'm at the age where I will start making decisions
about whether I'm going to go to an event or not,
and what part of town is it is, and wondering
whether it's lit well enough because I'm at that age
where it's like, I'm not always comfortable driving at night.
I'm aware, I'm aware, you know, it's just the age.
(10:12):
Thing is real.
Speaker 5 (10:13):
Seeing the street signs, oh, get that? What would have
helped me, even if I'm using my GPS, if I
could see them in enough time. I'm like, oh, is
that the street? I don't even know? Make a U
turn wind impossible? I'm like, okay, I missed the street.
Wait should you be driving at all?
Speaker 2 (10:28):
I'm gonna jump in there, Mark, because I have to
renew my driver license in November.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
When I went to handle.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Some stuff at the DMV, and you know, it takes
a real long time for them to get to you.
I'm sitting down waiting for them to call my number
three nine I have.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Now nine one three I had.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
I'm sitting down and trying to memorize that whole sheet
of letters for when I come back to the path
of it, because I was concerned as to whether I'd.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Be able to pass the tests.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
So yes, and with like Tuala driving, sorry to step
up your story. Sometimes I'm guessing at the street sign
name that looks like an F t Z like you
have the eye doctor r N L Wheel of fortune.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
All right, grandparents, let me ask you this. Do you
have the depth perception thing where it's dark and there's
a red light tail lights in front of you and
you're having more trouble figuring out how near it is?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Kind of yeah, yeah, Mark, Yeah, that's why I stopped
playing basketball officiate basketball. But I don't play anymore because
my depth perception is not like it was, and you know,
shooting is all about depth perception.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
This is what I hear.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
No, my, I'm being serious because my eyes don't always
align anymore, so that you know, going from two D
to three D that's a problem.
Speaker 5 (12:04):
Okay, yeah, yeah, I a couple of times say this
out loud. A couple of times my proximity alert came
on while on the street a couple of.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Times to stop driving danger.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
I was like, damn, I gotta go get glasses because
I'm tripping right now.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
No, you need to take ubers. Look.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
The only thing in which I'm in agreement with Tawaul
about these autonomous taxis or vehicles. Hopefully by the time
that I have to stop driving, they will be fully
functional and I will not be dependent on anyone to
drive me around. I'm never gonna be wealthy enough to
have James as a driver home. James, No, it won't
(12:48):
be any of that. It'll it'll have to be my
own private way mo of some sort. Mister Kelly, that's right,
wait for the movie.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Oh yeah, it's gonna be a little less racist thuff
just to Kelly. Whatever.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Well, you gotta keep bringing my government name into this,
William Mark William Ronner.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
I'm not ashamed of mine. I mean, I'm not crazy
about it, but not ashamed of it. We got here
because of the bad traffic. Okay, you were telling the
swalla about the double traffic break going on.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
Oh no, that was horrible, and taking the streets was
even worse because I had no idea where it was
that even with the GPS. Finally me I got to like,
I think Roscoe, and I'm go, I know, Roscoe, take
Roscoe all the way down.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
I had no idea Roscoe was that long. I'm casting.
I'm like, like, what what did Roscoe get? Today? Did Roscoe?
Why is Roscoe so long? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (13:38):
It took forever in the day to get here.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
I don't know what it was today. It was really
really bad.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Yes, there were accidents, but it just seemed the cars
were much more voluminous.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
It's just more cars.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Politician in town times that I know of, I mean not,
you know, because Biden had his address, but that was
in I think from the Oval office.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
I heard it.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
I didn't see it. I assume he wasn't in La. Yeah,
I don't think he did it from the grove. Oh
you never know, you never know, you know, he could
have thought he was in Oval office and just ended.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Up be nice.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
Oh God, put a foot up the guy's ass on
his way out the door.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Even yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, look, yeah, it wasn't trying
to be mean. I just took a shot out of
a cheap shot. Is there another kind? That's what I
thought there isn't another kind.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Let's see how the evening goes. I'll let you know.
I'm quite sure you will find out. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
And for some empirical experiments on that.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Also, I noticed that between Tuesday and Wednesday we were
under the impression, we had the expectation that the wind
was really going to be out of control, and at
least where I was living and am living today didn't
really feel much wind. And I was looking it up
on different way trackers, something like one or two miles
(15:01):
an hour. I don't know if well, I know that
does help firefighters and it doesn't make their job that
much more difficult.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
It may slow the spread of the fires.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
And I'm quite sure if you've been listening to Mark Runner,
you may have noticed that we're getting more containment on
all the fires and hopefully, hopefully we won't have an
another conflagration of a new fire here or there, we
won't have an arson attempt over there. And if we
can just stay with these fires that we've been battling
(15:32):
for the past week or so, then you know, we
can helpfully turn hopefully can turn the corner at this point, hopefully,
But I don't know was it wendy where you were
Mark or swallow, because we're in very different areas of
the city.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
I was up until the wee hours of the morning
and it was incredibly windy overnight.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Yeah, not by me.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Yeah, maybe I just slept through it because obviously got
off work at midnightish. Didn't have any real problem getting
home because driving my car is a little bit higher
profile than what I've had before. Is in suv you
feel the wind, you know it's moving the car to
and fro.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Didn't have that last night.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Don't remember the wind howling well into the night because
I didn't go home and just go straight to sleep.
It's impossible. So I think I was up to maybe
two two thirty or so. No northills.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
It was popping. Yeah, for me, the Friday was the
worst I could feel. It was my car, absolutely, I
was rough.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Yeah, but specifically last night, no, no, and today it
felt like a summer day.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
It was.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
It was actually hot, it was it was Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I was wearing a sweater and still wearing a sweater
and I felt like, gosh, I overdressed. I thought it
was going to be cold in like the fifties, and
it felt like it was seventy five eighty.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
I felt like I'm inappropriately dressed.
Speaker 4 (16:50):
Definitely by the time I got to Burman when my
temperature said like seventy nine, so.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
It was it was pretty warm today. Yeah, La can't
catch a break. It's like you would rather at least
be cold. It's already dry, We're already dealing with fires.
The last thing we need is eighty degree weather. It's
Later with Mo Kelly k if I AM six forty.
We're live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. And to get
serious when we come back, Let's say you are forced
to evacuate. It's an honest question. Now see if we
(17:17):
can answer it. Do you still need to pay your mortgage?
How about your rent? What about utility bills? We'll talk
about it next.
Speaker 6 (17:25):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Let's say if unfortunately, you are the some of the
people who were evacuated, or you lost your home, you
may be unsure as far as your financial responsibility. You
may be more importantly looking for a place temporarily for
you and your family. It may be a new apartment,
(17:51):
it may be a short term rental of some sort,
but you still have to consider your responsibility to your
living arrangement, be it a house or an apartment. And
the question that many people have is, well, do I
still need to pay my mortgage?
Speaker 1 (18:09):
How about my rent? What about utility bills?
Speaker 2 (18:12):
I mean, why would I be paying for water if
I can't even use the water or electricity? When I
can't even use the electricity? Have they turned off my meters?
Speaker 1 (18:21):
You know? When are they going to come for my payment?
Speaker 2 (18:24):
I may not be in a position to be able
to handle any of that great questions. Here are some
answers for you. Let's start with the possibility, though unfortunate,
that your home burned down. Obvious question, do you still
have to pay your mortgage? Well, homeowners affected by this
disaster are often eligible to reduce or suspend their mortgage
(18:48):
payments for up to twelve months twelve months if your
home was destroyed in a wildfire, what you need to
do first and foremost is contact your mortgage servicer as
soon as possible and go over your options. You could
be and this is not a guarantee, but you could
be qualified for a forbearance plan that will temporarily lower
(19:12):
or eliminate your monthly payment. And also it will prevent
late fees and foreclosure. And when I was going through foreclosure,
I spent many an hour on the phone with my
loan provider. And although it may seem daunting, the last
thing your loan provider wants is for the property to
(19:35):
go into foreclosure. They're about getting their money, and the
bank is not in the business of owning properties. They
would rather stay with you and work out something with
you than evict you for close on you. And then
they just have this empty property in which they're not
making any money at all, and they have to sign
(19:57):
sell off and for probably a loss or short that's
if your home burned down.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
What about property taxes?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
If your home or business was affected by the windstorms
or fires or both, you could be eligible for temporary
property tax relief through the LA County Assessor's office. You
would need to file a misfortune or calamity claim to
request reassessment of your property. You will qualify for tax
(20:29):
relief only if, and this is very important, only if
the damage to your property exceeds ten thousand dollars and
and you file your claim within twelve months of the incident.
You don't have to rush, but you still have to
be mindful of the fact that there is a clock
and it is running. So again, you will qualify for
tax relief only if the damage to your property exceeds
(20:52):
ten thousand dollars. And let's be real, that's not a lot.
It doesn't take much to exceed ten thousand dollars. But
you also have to file your claim within twelve months
of the incident, and that also figures into the issue
of well, if you are evacuated, you may not know
exactly when you be able to get back to your
property and be able to assess the extent, the financial
(21:16):
extent of the damage. But again, ten thousand dollars is
not a lot, and you should be able to file
that claim shortly thereafter.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
How about this.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Let's say you rent a home or your business was
damaged or destroyed. Do you still need to pay rent?
And this is a question that I get personally and
professionally all the time.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Under California law.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Your rental agreement will become void void if and only
if the rental unit is completely destroyed in a disaster.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Let me say it again.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Under California law, your rental agreement will become void if
the rental unit is completely destroyed in a disaster, that
is different from being evacuated. That's different from a building
being yellow tagged. But if it is red tagged and
is completely destroyed, you will no longer be required to
(22:19):
pay rent and your landlord must return your security deposit.
That is so very important. There are two parts to that. One,
you are not required to pay rent, and let's say
you have a twenty five hundred dollars deposit, which is
(22:41):
very common. You're obligated by law to get that money back,
which could be very helpful, at least in the short
term trying to secure some other place to live. So
you will no longer be required to pay rent and
your landlord must return your security deposit. But if your
rental unit is only partially destroyed and can't be lived
(23:03):
in like yellow tagged, you can choose to end your
rental agreement or.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Wait for your landlord to make necessary repairs.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
And you probably wonder well, let's say it takes three months,
you have to pay rent during those three months. No,
you will not have to pay rent while waiting for
repairs unless you move back into the unit. So if
your landlord hypothetically were to tell you that, yeah, you
can't live in this unit. We have fire damage, we
have smoke damage. We're gonna have to just gut the
(23:36):
inside and start over. It probably will take us three
to four months. Those three or four months that you
are not living in the unit, you by law, are
not obligated to pay rent because you can't live in
the unit. But if you were able to move back in,
all bets are off because you're using it as a residence. Yes,
(23:59):
the repairs may not be complete, but if you can
live there inconvenient it may be. If you can live there,
then the expectation is you'll be paying rent. You won't
have to pay for the repairs because again you're a renter,
but you will have to pay rent if you are
living there. If you're a landlord, you are responsible for
(24:23):
repairs after a disaster and have an obligation to make
the unit livable as soon as possible. How specific that
is not very What is as soon as possible?
Speaker 1 (24:34):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
We were talking about how just homeowners may have a
process of a year or more trying to be made whole.
From an insurance standpoint, you apply that to landlords in
a multi unit apartment building could take even longer. And
we talked about rent control. Let's say you live in
(24:57):
an area not directly affected by the fires, will your
rent go up? We have this concern about price gouging.
In fact, you probably heard it in the press briefers
briefings where they were saying like, hey, do not engage
in price gouging. They're going to clamp down on those
who try to do that. Well, I'm not holding my
breath because that's what people do. But California's anti price
(25:21):
gouging law is now in effect, and this limits rent
increases to no more than ten percent above pre emergency
levels after an emergency is declared. And that, to me
is that actually pisses me off. It's like, wait a minute,
they can still raise your rent ten percent after the fires.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Let's say you're.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Paying thirty four hundred dollars a month, and that could
be for like a one bedroom here in Burbank ten
percent three hundred and forty dollars, three hundred and forty
dollars out of nowhere for a disaster which they not
have impacted your building. But by law, legally, you know,
(26:05):
with the exception of the stipulation agreement. You might be
month to month, but let's say you're a month to month,
they can raise your rent three hundred and forty dollars Mark.
I hate to keep reminding people, but I have no
real understanding why we keep voting against rent control.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
I don't get it.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
I don't either, And as I said at the top
of the seven o'clock hour, with any natural disaster come
the vultures. And I've been keeping track on Reddit of
price gouging with landlords. People are reporting properties that were
up for rent that have doubled their rent by one
hundred percent. And if you're familiar with jud Legam, who
does the Popular Information website, very reliable consumer based news,
(26:50):
and he's reporting here that they've identified dozens of LA
landlords who have jacked up rents by as much as
one hundred percent after the fires and thousands of people
lost their homes. And he points out California is rent
gouging law, the ten percent thing. Just one example here
in Manhattan Beach, a five bedroom home listed on December
thirty first for eighty seven hundred and fifty per month
(27:12):
is now nineteen thousand, seven hundred and fifty.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
What kind of person does that.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
Actually a lot of them. I don't know what kind,
but they're not atypical unfortunately.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
No.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Let's say you're wondering about your utility bills and we're
getting ready to go to break. Whether you have to
continue paying your gas, your water, your electricity, it all
depends on your provider. So you're gonna have to contact
Southern California Edison DWP.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
I don't know Golden State Water.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
You're gonna have to contact them directly and make sure
you can get something. This is my recommendation. Get something
from them in writing. Don't just talk to the person
on the phone and just assume, oh, okay, I don't
have to pay my gas bill right now because so
and so who I talk to on the phone says I.
Don't make sure that they can point you to a policy.
(28:04):
You can get something emailed to you which corroborates what
you may be told on the phone, so you're not
looking at some ridiculous bill six months from now that
you're not expecting, which goes back to repairs which need
to be made on your unit if you're renting, or
relative to your house and mortgage. Southern California Edison, since
(28:25):
we're talking about it, we're talking about southern California. Edison,
in relation to Altadena, has suspended billing for all customers
who live in the mandatory evacuation zones. But you have
to be clear on those boundaries and how or whether
it applies to you.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
We'll have more on this in just a moment.
Speaker 6 (28:43):
You're listening to later with Moe Kelly on Demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
We were talking about those who have been evacuated, those
who unfortunately have lost their homes in the fire or
have been evacuated and don't have a home to return to.
It might be yellow tagged, it might be red tagged.
And you're wondering, well, what about my utilities? Do I
keep paying them? Do I keep paying my mortgage? What
(29:09):
about my rent? I live in an apartment building and
the apartment building has been burned down, but I also
have bills connected to that apartment, such as electricity, such
as internet, such as a gas or water. And we've
been trying to just comb through this as far as
some of your responsibilities, and the short answer is this,
(29:31):
you should be proactive and contact your service providers just
to be sure that you are aware of their policies,
because even though I'm telling you what has been listed
and presented as fact, you should never leave it to chance.
You should contact your mortgage provider or your mortgage service.
(29:53):
So you should contact see LADWP, Golden State Water, SoCal Gas,
whoever may be, because they're not going to be uniform
as far as their policies and expectations of you as
a customer, and you would do better to find out
or work out a plan now as opposed to letting
(30:15):
it happen. And then you receive a bill for the
past three months or so and you realize, wait a minute,
why am I being charged for a service that I
could not use? There are things that you can do
right now to prepare yourself and also inform yourself. We
told you about Southern California Edison, which provides power to
areas which have been affected like Altadena. They are suspending
(30:35):
billing for all customers who live in the mandatory evacuation zones.
That's where I left off last segment. I wanted to
put an addendum on that and say be clear on
what Southern California Edison considers the boundary of the mandatory
evacuation zones. There are people who may have evacuated with good,
(30:56):
good reason, and they might have been under an advisory
for evacuation, it may not ever been deemed as mandatory.
And then all of a sudden you're on the hook
for something which you didn't expect to be on the
hook for. So contact Southern California Edison directly Southern California
Gas customers who lost their home or business. According to
(31:18):
this mind you, I say, contact them, but they say
you do not need to contact the company to end service.
The natural gas provider will forgive the current bill and
the most recent bill. For customers whose properties have been destroyed,
I would recommend contacting them directly and making sure it
is on your customer record that you've informed Southern California
(31:41):
Gas so Cal Gas that your house or apartment has
been destroyed or has been determined to be unlivable, so
that is on the record. You can have that as
a point a reference point later on if need be.
LADWP has paused billing notices in areas directly affected by
(32:01):
the fires. Again, what LADWP has chosen or or believes
is the area of people who have been directly affected
may be different from your understanding. So I would call
them and let them know, Hey, I've been affected. I
can't get in my house. Just want to make sure
(32:24):
that you've paused my billing. These are the things that
I would say that you should be proactive. Yes, you
may be not in your house, you may be in
a temporary living arrangement, and it may not seem like
it's a priority. But if in when you can, I
would get around to it just as soon as possible.
And you may also wonder, well, what about federal government aid?
(32:47):
You know, there are a lot of questions that we
still need answering. If you didn't know, you can receive
up to seven hundred and seventy dollars from FEMA under
its Serious Needs Assistance Program, and you can use that
for whatever you need, whatever supplies that you need. Let's
say you need water, let's say you need hygiene products.
It's not coming with any strings attached. Seven hundred and
(33:09):
seventy dollars. And also FEMA offers temporary housing assistance. However,
California must request that assistance for it to kick in.
I do not know whether the state of California, as
in Governor Newsom has specifically and pointedly asked for that,
But it's something that you can contact FEMA to see
(33:30):
what the status is on that. Those are just a
few things that I think can be helpful to help
you navigate this time of uncertainty.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
You may not be in your house.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
You may, as I said before, unfortunately have lost your house,
but you still have to be mindful of the financial
expectations that your mortgage provider may have wrongly or rightly,
the expectations of your power, your water companies which they
may be expecting. I say, be proactive if contact them directly,
(34:01):
make sure that you're on the record saying that you
do not have access to your house or your apartment,
and it's on the record so they can be no misunderstanding.
Later on I'm O'Kelly, It's later with mo Kelly ky
If I am six forty. We are live everywhere on
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