Angelenos apartment hunting on Craigslist became victims of a recent rental scam. More than two dozen renters were ripped off by the con artists, who preyed on suspects seeking inexpensive apartments. Three suspects have been detained. more ›

The smoking ban in Santa Monica could soon take its hold on even more areas, with pending restrictions for lighting up in apartment buildings and in new hotels. "The City Council directed staff Tuesday to prepare ordinances banning smoking in all newly-constructed hotels and requiring landlords to designate apartments in multi-family buildings as either smoking or non-smoking units," explains the The Lookout News. more ›

Gentlemen (and ladies) take note: Los Angeles has been ranked by Rent.com as the 6th best city in the country for mixing and mingling. L.A.'s "exciting nightlife and urban appeal" is great for our 50/50 mix of single men and women, says the rental resource via an email release. more ›

If you are a renter, and looking to move in the coming months, some encouraging news: Rents between now and the end of next year are expected to decline by an estimate 3.2 percent, according to the 2011 USC Casden Multifamily Forecast, a report released today by the school's Lusk Center. more ›

Sorry smokers! Pasadena is working on an ordinance that would slowly phase out the ability to smoke in apartment buildings and units. The Pasadena City Council instructed the City Attorney's office to "draft a ordinance that would ban smoking in common areas of apartment buildings by the summer; ban smoking in all proposed multi-unit housing; require a disclosure of the law in rental, lease or purchase agreements by January 2012 and ban smoking in apartment units by January 2013," according to the Star-News. more ›

Items inside a trunk stashed in the basement of the Glen-Donald apartment building in the Westlake area are just some of the clues authorities are using to investigate the case of the two infant skeletons found Tuesday, reports LA Now. more ›

An apartment manager doing some cleaning in the basement of a Westlake building found something unusual wrapped in newspapers inside two doctor's bags stashed in a steamer trunk. Inside the papers--a 1933 and a 1935 issue of the Los Angeles Times--were "infant skeletons" thought to be those of fetuses, according to the Daily News. more ›

While Santa Monica has some strong rent-control laws, the city said it has fallen behind in protecting renters of regular apartments and other types of units. Last week, the council voted on some restrictions for landlords and may place some measures on the November ballot to let voters decide on some issues, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press. more ›

The group Santa Monicans for Non-Smoking Renters Rights want their City Council to take a current no smoking law one step further. Earlier this year, the group successfully proposed that smoking be banned from common areas in apartment and condo complexes, according to the Lookout News, via LA Now. Now they want the ban to include some apartment and condo unit patios and balconies since "the smoke is pulled into neighboring units because of the difference in air pressure." In essence, this idea would make complexes have smoking and non-smoking sections. It's like a restaurant, back in the day. A Calabasas law that will go into affect in 2012 will designate 80% of units as non-smoking, notes the Santa Monica Daily Press. more ›

A standoff that began at around 10:40 last night ended just before 6 this morning outside an apartment building in North Hollywood where a man who'd been believed to have shot his wife was holed up. LAPD officers and members of the SWAT team and bomb squad units were "met by neighbor Nick Wilcox, who told them some bullets came through his apartment wall," at the building on the 6500 block of Simpson Avenue, according to KTLA. more ›

In a discussion about the upcoming trend (and hopefully long-term habit) of residents taking part in urban farming and apartment gardening, commenter trishells points out her illegal use of water under current city ordinances. However, she has a great point: more ›

Plant F-ing is a new Ask LAist series about growing your food at home with an emphasis on renters who do not have access to the luxuries of a yard and only have windows and patios to work with. If you've got a question, please ask and send it to editor[@]laist.com and our in-house garden guru, aka Hand of Gardener, will answer. Today we'll kick it off with a basic question from LAist Editor Zach Behrens. more ›

On Sunday evening, Jessica Amen and Kyle Kushner lost just about everything when their two-story unit apartment in Brentwood went aflame. Over 100 Los Angeles firefighters fought the aggressive blaze for nearly an hour before extinguishing it, keeping it contained to only their unit. One resident and one firefighter sustained injuries, but nothing life threatening. more ›

After some of them spent two nights in a Red Cross shelter, the 18 residents of an earthquake damaged apartment building in Long Beach will return home today. more ›

They tend to be our least favorite people, since we write hefty checks to them every month for our rent, but landlords aren't doing so well these days. Vacancies in commercial buildings are up and rising, say recent reports, and this year looks to be a tough one for landlords looking to lease. more ›

Talk about disturbing: "Broadcrest Foothill Apartment Homes claims Alicia Ortiz broke her lease on an Upland apartment when she and her 17-year-old son were killed by her sister's disgruntled ex-husband. The landlord informed her former husband, Carlos Ortiz, that she gave 'insufficient notice to vacate.' The company says it is owed $2,821 in rent and penalties," reports the Associated Press today. And it's not just some oversight or a situation where they didn't know what happened, finds the Daily News. Worst of all, the property manager and the company won't even comment. more ›

Fire officials have no idea what caused the front of a Harvard Heights apartment building to collapse last night shortly before 11 p.m., but it is believed that the building's age and construction may have been a contributing factor. Twenty to thirty people were inside, but only one woman was injured with non-life threatening wounds. Another 20-year-old man was trapped in the rubble, but after being rescued by firefighters, he refused to go the hospital. The four affected units and the other eight were evacuated until the structure would be cleared. more ›

A couple in their twenties who placed a candle under their Christmas Tree are probably feeling grateful they survived the fire they started around 9:45 p.m. tonight. Luckily, the newish two-story apartment building at 19039 Nordhoff Street in Northridge had a sprinkler system that extinguished the blaze before fire trucks arrived (sidenote: whatever happened to Season 2 American Inventor winner and Ventura County Firefighter Greg Chavez' Guardian Angel for situations just like this?). The fire caused an estimated $10,000 in damage--about half to the structure and half to personal items. No one was hurt, a good thing, especially for a holiday night like this. The last time someone died in Los Angeles due to a Christmas Tree fire was in 2006. more ›

There's good news coming out of City Council President Eric Garcetti's district about a problem largely unreported in the home foreclosre crisis. When a landlord goes into foreclosure, renters, even the ones who are in perfect standing, are being pressured by the new property owner--banks--to vacate. Tomorrow, the 13th distric councilman will present a motion to halt this activity via a moratorium. From the press release: more ›

26-year-old skateboarder and photographer Lee Grivas was found dead in his apartment by a neighbor in Hollywood on July 1. There were no signs of physical trauma and it appears to be from a heroin overdose. Applegate and Grivas dated on and off but his drug problem was a factor that often split them up. Right now, there is no official cause of death and is currently being ruled as an accident or suicide pending a the toxicology report. more ›

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For the second time this week, another person has been found dead inside their Santa Monica apartment and police suspect homicide. Last night at 8:05 p.m., the body of a man in his 30s was found at 520 Montana Ave. Described as a "suspicious death," the apartment building was temporarily evacuated at the time. As to how police knew to check the apartment, police will not say at the moment. more ›

The LA Times business section has a nice little basic primer on one of LA's favorite pastimes, finding an apartment in Los Angeles. It includes one of the best and overlooked tips ever:You'll want to find a place where you feel safe and at ease. [Mark] Verge [owner of Westside Rentals] recommends driving by a potential apartment multiple times -- on different days, at different hours -- to scope out the neighborhood. "That is one... more ›

Hey, remember when we were all like "Hey LAist peeps! We're moving to Hollywood! In only thirty days! YEAH BABY!" and everything was going great and we got some good tips on movers (Delancey Street) and neighborhoods? And if you'd asked me if thought I was going to be able to make it by July 1st I'd be all like "YOU KNOW IT!!!" Yeah, well, as of eleven o'clock this morning, that was how... more ›

Is your place hella small but wicked cool? Well, jeeze, you don’t have to brag about it. Oh wait, yes you do! Apartment Therapy is seeking local submissions for their SMALLEST COOLEST APARTMENT contest. Check out pictures from last year’s contest and get all the details on how to enter. Deadline is Friday, April 6th. Woot. LA’s in the house. Photo by pudgeefeet via Flickr... more ›