ACTION Apartment Association

American Rescue Plan Act Funds to Support Rent Abatement

04/15/2021 9:15 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica City Council provided initial direction on how to allocate Santa Monica’s $29.3 million in Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds provided through the American Rescue Plan (ARP). Council directed stimulus funds to support community economic recovery, including recovery for City non-profit and Pier tenants, as well as to address homelessness and provide community services, including reopening City facilities and services when permitted by public health orders. Additional direction will be provided when Council meets for its FY 2021-23 Biennial Budget Study Session on May 25.

Rent Control Board supports Assemblymember Bloom’s legislation to deter Ellis Act evictions

04/13/2021 9:35 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

On March 22, Lee introduced AB 854, which was co-authored by Bloom and strives to end the speculator eviction loophole of the Ellis Act by requiring landlords own property for at least five years before invoking the act.

52 Residents Apply for Police Oversight Commission

04/13/2021 9:24 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

A former City Councilmember, a retired Santa Monica police department veteran and four City commissioners are among the 53 applicants vying for nine seats on the new police oversight commission.

Proposed Westside Homeless Shelter Locations

04/12/2021 9:34 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Take a look at a collection of Westside properties that a LA lawmaker is proposing bringing homeless shelters to...

Cities Chip Away at R-1 Zoning

04/12/2021 8:59 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

But Wiener kept pushing in pre-pandemic speeches for more aggressive attacks on the single-family zoning he appears to consider an abomination. Some of his message has seeped in.

The best evidence came when the city of Sacramento in January took the first step toward ending R-1 zoning within its boundaries. You could call the almost certain new zoning category R-4 because it would allow rebuilding or restructuring existing homes into up to four units on every lot in previously one-parcel, one-home areas.

Sen. Wiener’s Dense Housing Bill Passes Senate Committee

04/09/2021 9:09 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

San Francisco Democrat Senator Scott Wiener has tried for several years to end single family zoning laws to allow for dense “Stack & Pack” housing to replace single family homes.

Stack & Pack housing is very unpopular in most California cities

The city should just pay the penalties…

04/09/2021 9:00 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Letter to the Editor

Regarding state imposed housing mandates (cobbled together in a backroom by unelected officials and completely unenforceable)…

Santa Monica Program Helps Vulnerable Tenants Stave Off Eviction

04/09/2021 8:52 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

In an effort to help stem an expected "wave of evictions," City officials this week launched a program that gives free legal counsel to vulnerable tenants.

AND: https://www.santamonica.gov/press/2021/04/08/city-launches-pilot-right-to-counsel-program-to-help-santa-monica-tenants-facing-evictions

SMa.r.t. Column: Santa Monica’s Precarious Business Plan

04/09/2021 8:50 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Picking up the financial pieces from the receding Covid-19 crisis, the City is simultaneously making incremental unresearched decisions that will have long lasting, significant, and likely unintended consequences on services, city amenities, cost of living, and quality of life and housing affordability across all the neighborhoods.

Santa Monica's Rent Control Market Remains Strong

04/09/2021 8:44 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

"In fact, newly registered rents show only a small reduction in the median initial rents for singles and 2-bedroom units. And, the median initial rents for 1- and 3-bedroom units were higher in 2020 than they were in 2019."

According to the report, the median rents for studios fell in 2020 from $1,950 to $1,895, or 2.8 percent, while the price of one-bedroom units rose 1 percent, from $2,450 to $2,475.