Andres Diaz

Managing Director, Multifamily Investments · Kingside Investment Group

How Much Should I Offer for Cash for Keys in Los Angeles?

The LAHD buyout filings data, updated November 2, 2026, covers filed agreements, not every offer or negotiation. The average is a calculation from 6,631 filings with a stated amount. It is context for an owner or buyer, not a prediction of what a particular tenant will accept.

How should you size a Los Angeles offer?

In Los Angeles, start with the specific unit and the outcome you want. A cash for keys arrangement is an agreement to pay a tenant who voluntarily agrees to move. The LAHD disclosure notice, revised July 2, 2026, says the tenant does not have to accept, and compensation is negotiated with typically no minimum or maximum. An offer is a starting point for a discussion, not a way to require a departure.

Look at filed amounts as a broad reference, not a rate card. The median among the 6,631 stated amounts was $22,000. In the most recent period, October 2025 through September 2026, 580 filings averaged $30,069 and had a $25,700 median. The middle half was $15,000 to $35,000. These are calculations from LAHD filings data updated November 2, 2026. They describe filed agreements, and an individual unit may differ. LAHD says the dataset is informational and does not indicate approval.

Compare current rent with a supportable market rent for the unit. The difference helps an owner estimate potential future income, but it is not the tenant's required price.

Consider the cost and time needed to prepare and re-rent the apartment, the possibility that the tenant declines, and how a vacant unit fits the planned holding period or sale. Under the RSO, LAHD explains that rent may be raised to market rate when a tenant accepts a buyout and the unit becomes vacant. For a starting comparison, the middle half of recent filed agreements was $15,000 to $35,000, according to the LAHD data updated November 2, 2026.

How does Los Angeles relocation assistance inform an offer?

The Los Angeles relocation schedule applies to qualifying no-fault terminations, a different situation from a voluntary buyout. A buyout alone does not trigger those payments. If a tenant is being displaced for demolition for new construction and the owner has filed for entitlements, permits or a Replacement Unit Determination, lower income tenants have a right to the RPO Chart B amounts of $87,450 to $115,480 for July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, even under a buyout, according to the LAHD Disclosure Notice. For July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, LAHD Bulletin 33A lists these RSO and Just Cause Ordinance amounts per unit:

A qualified household includes a tenant who is at least 62, disabled, or has a minor dependent child. Low income means household income at or below 80% of area median income; the higher tenancy tier applies regardless of tenancy length. The bulletin also lists separate owner or family occupancy amounts for qualifying Mom and Pop owners: $10,550 for an eligible household and $21,250 for a qualified household.

These amounts can frame a conversation, but they do not establish what a voluntary agreement must pay. The LAHD filing data shows 26.0% of stated buyouts from January 2019 through September 2026 were below $14,400. That historical comparison uses today's relocation amount against filings across several years; it does not establish whether any particular agreement was appropriate. See the LAHD dataset, updated November 2, 2026.

What steps are required for a Los Angeles RSO buyout?

First confirm coverage. The LAHD RSO overview, September 22, 2026, says the RSO generally covers rental properties first built on or before October 1, 1978. The buyout ordinance applies to RSO units. Most city rental units outside the RSO fall under the Just Cause Ordinance, which has its own protections. This article is not legal advice. Before making an offer, have a Los Angeles landlord-tenant attorney confirm coverage and review the disclosure and agreement.

Give the disclosure before an offer

Under LAMC 151.31, before a written or oral offer to pay for an RSO tenant to vacate, the landlord must give the LAHD-authorized RSO Disclosure Notice, dated and signed by both landlord and tenant. The notice explains tenant rights, including that accepting is voluntary.

Put the agreement in writing

The ordinance requires a written agreement in the tenant's primary language, signed and dated by both parties, with a copy provided to the tenant. It also requires the cancellation statement in at least 12-point bold type above the tenant's signature line. The authorized form requirement applies to the disclosure notice; the ordinance does not require an LAHD-issued agreement form.

Allow for cancellation

The ordinance allows the tenant to cancel for any reason up to 30 days after both parties sign, without financial obligation or penalty. If the disclosure or agreement does not conform to the ordinance or applicable regulations, cancellation may extend through the applicable statute of limitations.

File with LAHD

File copies of the signed disclosure and agreement within 60 days after execution. The LAHD Tenant Buyout Notification Program page, last modified August 7, 2025, says filings are accepted only through its online system. The cancellation window is 30 days after signing, and the filing deadline is 60 days after execution.

How does a buyout affect a Los Angeles apartment building sale?

In Los Angeles, a buyer evaluates the building's current income and the assumptions behind future income. A vacant unit, an occupied unit and a unit subject to a signed agreement present different facts. A seller can compare a sale with the current rent roll against a scenario that includes a negotiated payment, preparation costs, holding costs and the time required to reach the proposed vacancy. None of those scenarios assures a higher sale price.

Keep the rent roll, agreement and filing records organized so the buyer can evaluate the actual status rather than an assumed future vacancy. A signed agreement and a completed move are distinct events; account for the cancellation period and the negotiated move-out date when discussing timing. A buyer should separately test the proposed rent, expenses and timing in its underwriting. The rent roll verification process is useful when comparing occupied and vacant-unit assumptions.

Illustrative example: for an RSO apartment in a City of Los Angeles neighborhood such as Koreatown, compare the current rent with a supportable market rent. The neighborhood is only an example; confirm the particular building's coverage. If an owner uses the recent $25,700 median as an illustrative payment, the cost to recover also includes rent lost during vacancy and the cost of preparing the unit. The LAHD filings data, updated November 2, 2026, supplies the payment reference, not the unit's rent or eventual agreement.

For the calculation, subtract current annual rent from supportable annual market rent to find the annual rent gap. Add the proposed payment, lost rent during vacancy and preparation costs; divide that total by the annual gap. The result is an estimated recovery period in years. If the gap is small or the owner plans to sell before recovering the costs, compare that result with a sale based on the existing rent roll. A buyer may use different assumptions about rent, timing and expenses, so provide the documents behind the scenario.

The financial question is the potential net benefit after the payment and related costs, not simply the difference between current and projected rent. The value of time matters too: a seller with a planned closing may value certainty differently from an investor intending to hold. Compare the payment and vacancy costs with the annual rent gap before deciding whether to pursue a buyout or sell with the unit occupied.

What cash for keys mistakes should Los Angeles owners avoid?

Los Angeles owners should avoid these common mistakes when considering an agreement.

• Calling the relocation schedule a buyout minimum. It applies to qualifying no-fault terminations, while voluntary compensation is negotiated.
• Approaching an RSO tenant with an offer before the disclosure. The ordinance requires the notice before an oral or written offer.
• Assuming a signature guarantees a vacancy. Build the cancellation period and agreed move-out date into the schedule,.
• Pressuring a tenant. The city's Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance page, July 27, 2026, identifies attempts to coerce a move through payment offers and misrepresentations that a tenant must move as harassment.
• Using an average as a promised outcome. Filings describe past agreements. A tenant can decline, and property-specific costs and timing change the analysis.

The LAHD data updated November 2, 2026 shows 26.0% of stated buyouts in the long-run period were below the current $14,400 relocation benchmark.

What else should Los Angeles owners know?

Andres Diaz
Managing Director, Multifamily Investments
DRE #01956479
(323) 376-2469
Andres.Diaz@kw.com

Sources

• LAHD Property Look-Up for Tenant Buyout Cases, updated November 2, 2026; calculations described above.
• Ordinance 184673, LAMC 151.31, effective January 25, 2017.
• LAHD RSO Disclosure Notice, revised July 2, 2026.
• LAHD Relocation Assistance Bulletin 33A, July 1, 2026.
• LAHD Tenant Buyout Notification Program, August 7, 2025.
• LAHD RSO overview, September 22, 2026.
• LAHD Just Cause Ordinance, September 10, 2026.
• LAHD Tenant Anti-Harassment, July 27, 2026.