At its meeting last night (April 28) the Santa Monica Rent Control board approved 5 recommendations for changes to the City Charter and Rent Control Charter Amendment that it will forward to the City Council with the hope that it will place the amendments on the November 2022 ballot. But its regulatory gluttony was not satiated, as it scheduled two new potential issues for discussion at its next meeting on May 12. The first concerns whether to require owners to report, to the Rent Board, units that have remained vacant for more than 30 days. Should this be required, you can count on a variety of punitive measures to ensue. The idea of a vacancy tax has been floated in discussions concerning vacancies in the Promenade and it would not be a stretch to see that applied to apartment units. The other item will be a discussion whether to amend the charter to limit the size of rent increases allowed. Rent increases are calculated under a formula equaling 3/4 of the increase in the area CPI subject to a cap calculated under a different formula. In addition, the Charter imposes an emergency cap of 6% that applies when the level of inflation would otherwise allow a higher amount, as is the case this year. Now that we have entered a period of runaway inflation, (It's Putin’s fault, of course), rent control advocates want to impose new limits on possible increases. You can count on commissioners expressing faux concern that mom-and-pop owners are suffering from inflationary expenses also but will then quickly proceed to make matters worse for them.
Coming Soon to a Ballot Box Near You?
At mentioned above, the Rent Control Board voted yesterday (April 28) to recommend five new laws be placed on the November 2022 ballot:
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A requirement that all non-rent-controlled rental units be registered with the City, with the exception of single-family homes. This will include owner-occupied duplexes and triplexes. Owners would be assessed an annual fee for the cost to administer the program. The registration will likely require owners to provide information such as:
- Occupancy status and commencement date of the current tenancy
- Current rent
- Water/utility metering status
- Amenities provided
- Ownership information
- Other information deemed necessary
- A requirement that owners or their qualified relatives sign a good faith intent to occupy a unit for three years, when evicting an existing tenant for their own occupancy. Current law only requires one year of occupancy. What was the compelling need for this change? During the five-pre-Covid-19 years, out of over 22,000 rent-controlled rental units in Santa Monica, there were an average of only seven owner-occupied evictions per year. This was a solution is search of a problem.
- A requirement that an owner must re-offer the unit to the displaced tenant if the owner fails to reside in the unit for at least three years and to allow an owner 60 days, instead of 30 days, to take occupancy of the unit.
- Commissioners will be allowed to be elected to three full terms instead of two. Only one commissioner, Nicole Phyllis, opposed this self-serving measure, saying she felt uncomfortable exercising their power to extend their power.
- No elections need be held if the number of qualified candidates for the rent board does not exceed the number of open board positions. Pop quiz - Who determines whether a candidate has made a qualifying application? Answer - City employees appointed by those in power.
Whether these proposed new laws will be placed on the November 2022 ballot will now go to the City Council for consideration.
Source: Wes Wellman
