The Rent Control Board has postponed a decision on revisions to construction based rent reduction rules and will now pick up the discussion at their August meeting.

The Board made the decision this week citing a lack of time to study the proposed revisions and a desire to have all boardmembers present for the discussion.

Staff released their report in the afternoon of July 11 in advance of a July 13 meeting. The 20 page report recommended language simplification throughout the ordinance and a set of “substantive” changes.

Substantive revisions included rules requiring a tenant to have suffered some adverse effect before applying for a construction-related rent decrease, clarification of concepts for ease of citation, specifying state any rent decrease will cover the entire duration of construction impacts – not merely those occurring after the date on which the Board sends notice to the landlord that a rent decrease is possible, coordinating requests from multiple units within a single complex, clarifying the confidentially of mediation including notice that the agreements are not confidential themselves and allowing lawyers to participate, requiring tenants to provide a basis for the rent decrease, removing language made moot by past legal cases and equalizing rent decreases based on similar cases.

While the law does not require a rent decrease for all construction in a rent controlled unit, it does provide for a rent decrease in most cases.

Read More: http://smdp.com/construction-based-rent-adjustments-coming-back-to-rent-control-board/161778