Rental Unit Registration: the Foundation of Rent Stabilization

Rental unit registration is the foundation of any rent stabilization program. The registry collects information on property owners and management companies and some particulars of each unit and tenancy, such as which housing services (like parking and utilities) are provided; when and why the last vacancy had occurred; and the actual rent amounts. We want to be sure that the recorded rent amount is correct because the established base rent becomes the basis for calculating rent increases, rent overcharges and potentially pass-through surcharges later.

The Registry is About Accountability

The rental unit registry allows the city to properly regulate rental housing where in the past that market went largely unregulated. There were unlawful evictions, illegal housing units, unlawful rent increases and all manner of abuses that simply went without tracking in any  systematic fashion. Problems reported to the city were treated as one-off situations.

Beverly Hills has made only limited progress systematically identifying abuses and problem landlords but thankfully there is in place a registry to at least record rents and reasons for vacancies. The registry also distinguishes among vacant units, resident-manager units and owner-occupied units. This data make it practical to operate a rent stabilization program.

In fact, before rental units were registered the city did not have an accounting of the rental properties much less the individual rented units. City hall did not even identify owners not paying the business tax.

Annual Registration

The city requires landlords to re-register rental units each year starting in January. (In reality the process extends well into the spring as some landlords lag or even refuse to register.) Additionally, when a vacant unit is re-rented it is newly registered. This ensures that tenancy data is continually updated. Also a landlord must update the registration whenever there is a change in property ownership or management. A tenant may request that information from the rent stabilization office by the way.

For a tenant the annual registration means receiving an annual notice of the rent as reported by the landlord. This is a tenant’s opportunity to dispute (appeal) the reported rent; to do nothing is to let it be recorded as the lawful certified base rent.

Read more about the registration in our explainer, Rental Unit Registration: What Does It Mean for Tenants?

The Origin of the Registry

City Council adopted the rental unit registry in January of 2017 as part of the urgency ordinance tightening rent stabilization regulations. According to the city staff report’s recommendation for a registry:

The goal of a Rental Registry Program is to ensure adherence with State and Local Health and Safety Codes, to preserve the City’s rental housing stock, and to protect the health, safety and welfare of tenants and the public. – January 24, 2017 staff report

Here’s how the urgency ordinance described the rental unit registry:

Landlords Pushed Back

Landlords strongly pushed-back on the creation of any kind of registry. The effort was led by the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, which is the landlord’s industry association in the Southland. The Association has filed suit to tank several registries in rent-control cities in the region.

Why oppose a registry? This is the Association’s argument in part:

• The city’s request for information is unlawful, even unconstitutional. (Neither is true.)
• The information collected about the landlord’s business is proprietary and confidential. (Also not true.)
• Requiring landlords to report actual rents is an invasion of tenants’ privacy. (It is actually required by the state law for every rent control city.)

At every turn, City Council reaffirmed its decision to create and maintain the registry as the backbone of our rent stabilization program — and they did so unanimously every time.