Experts say that as rents have declined in some cities in Southern California, a region where most residents pay more than one-third of their income for leased housing, now could be a good time to ask your landlord for a rent reduction.  

“Landlords, just out of the gate, are not going to offer to lower your rent, full stop. That very rarely happens,” rental expert Jonas Bordo told KTLA’s Kacey Montoya.  

The author of “Everything You Need to Know About Renting But Didn’t Know to Ask,” Bordo says many renters believe the price is set in stone and are unaware that their monthly payments are flexible. 

“The first thing to know is that your landlord doesn’t set the rent. It’s set by the market,” he explained. “It’s the landlord’s job to try to figure out what market rent is, but they generally don’t know. Usually, the renter has a much better sense of what the real normal rent should be for that rental.” 

According to the author, getting your rent lowered is possible, but 90% of tenants never ask.  

“It’s kind of like buying a car, the way you go in expecting it to be a negotiation. Think, ‘What does the landlord want in this situation?’” Bordo said. “This is a situation where you can and should negotiate.” 

One thing tenants can do is find comparable units in your neighborhood 60 days before your lease is up and if the prices are lower, present that to your landlord, Bordo suggests. In some cases, he says, landlords will match the price or not increase the rent to avoid the costs that come with a tenant moving out, which can add up to two or three months’ rent.  

Another suggestion he had was to sign a longer lease, if it makes sense for the tenant, because longer leases are more valuable to landlords.  

“Sometimes you can lock in your existing rent rate, no increases for a couple of years, which is valuable to you,” Bordo said.  

There might even be more opportunity to pay less rent in newer developments with hundreds of vacancies to fill, he added, because every day new developments have empty apartments, the more expensive it is for them.  

For anyone renting from homeowners, handling regular maintenance, such as maintaining the lawn or repairing small issues with the property adds a lot of value for landlords, especially those who don’t live near the home they’re leasing.  

“I’ve kept my rent down by doing my own repairs or arranging the repairs myself,” said Susan Postnikoff, whose rent has only increased by $300 in the seven years she’s lived in her Hawthorne home.  

Postnikoff told Montoya that she would gladly cover the cost of a $300 repair rather than have her rent increase by that amount each month.  

“First of all, if you don’t ask, you are never going to get it. You have to ask,” Postnikoff added. “If you’re a great tenant, there’s no reason they wouldn’t want to keep you.”  

Christopher Salviati from Apartmentlist.com believes the timing is now right for renters as there has been a cooldown in the market over the past year.  

“We’ve looked metro-wide, rents are down 1.5% year over year,” he said. “So, it’s a pretty modest decline but there’s more softness in the market than there has been in a couple of years. Renters have more footing in the market than they have had in some time.”  

One person is dead and another person has been taken into custody after a fatal shooting in a busy corridor of downtown Los Angeles Thursday afternoon.

Authorities responded to the intersection of 6^th and Main streets at around 3:45 p.m., the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to KTLA.  

Aerial footage from Sky5 captured officers, along with medical personnel from the L.A. Fire Department, attempting life saving measures on a victim who was lying on the sidewalk near a trail of blood.  

Details are extremely limited and it’s unclear what led to the shooting.  

At around 4:15 p.m., first responders were scene placing a canopy, typically used during fatal incidents, over the area where the gunshot victim was laying.

LAPD later confirmed that the victim was deceased at the scene and that a suspect had been arrested.

No further details were provided.

Reggie Bush, the legendary University of Southern California running back who helped guide the Trojans to two National Championships in the mid-2000s, will speak to the media on Thursday for the first time since his 2005 Heisman Trophy was returned this week.

Bush, a San Diego County native who played for USC from 2003 to 2005, forfeited college football’s most prestigious award in 2010 in light of the discovery of “improper benefits” in the form of money and other items being awarded to him during his career, according to the LA Times.

In addition to the stripping of the title of “Heisman Trophy winner,” the 2004 BCS National Championship, and all wins from that 13-0 season, was vacated from USC itself.

On Wednesday, The Heisman Trophy Trust decided to give the trophy back to Bush, and the replica back to USC after a “deliberative process” in light of the massive structural changes to college athletics.

“We are thrilled to welcome Reggie Bush back to the Heisman family in recognition of his collegiate accomplishments,” said Michael Comerford, President of the trust. “We considered the enormous changes in college athletics over the last several years in deciding that now is the right time to reinstate the Trophy for Reggie. We are so happy to welcome him back.”

Bush’s astounding 2005 season was marked with 1,740 rushing yards, 478 receiving yards and 19 total touchdowns. USC finished the season at No. 2 in the BCS rankings, after falling to Texas in the National Championship game, which is now remembered as one of the greatest games in college football history.

Bush won the Heisman Trophy in a landslide vote over Texas quarterback Vince Young.

The Heisman Trust said in addition to being re-awarded the hardware, Bush will be invited to all future Heisman Trophy ceremonies, beginning in the next one this December.

Former winners rejoiced in the news that Bush was rejoining the Heisman family.

Thank you to the [Heisman Trophy] for doing what’s right and welcoming a storied member of our history back into the fold,” former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Maziel, the 2012 winner, said on X. “There were many voices throughout this process that stood on the table for Reggie simply because of the kind of human being he is. I look forward to being on that stage with you this December.”

Bush’s teammate Matt Leinart, who was the Trojan’s quarterback from 2003 to 2005, said Wednesday was a “huge day for college football” in a video posted to his social media accounts. Leinart won the Heisman in 2004, one year before Bush.

“Everybody knows how long of a road this was,” Leinart said. “Over 10 years in the making … Now the trophy is back in the hands of where it belongs.”