The landlord can increase the rent once per year at a maximum percentage set by the city. But how much the rent can rise becomes a bit confusing when the notice of an increase coincides with the publication of the revised percentage.
Housing rights legal services provider Bet Tzedek starts the new fiscal year with a 100% bump-up in funding to provide more extensive tenant and senior housing legal services to Beverly Hills residents. Great news because eviction actions are on the rise. But the funding almost didn’t happen when City Council balked at spending $220,000. Cedars Sinai stepped in to save the day with a one-time matching grant.
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With Rent Stabilization Commission interviews commencing this week we have looked at those who applied. Now we turn our attention to the numbers: specifically the proportion of applicants who stepped up for the tenant, landlord and ‘at-large” categories relative to the number of potential applicants in each category. Which group was most motivated to apply for a commission seat? Landlords!
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Beverly Hills created the Rent Stabilization Commission earlier this year to advise City Council about future amendments to the rent stabilization ordinance. It underscored our Council’s commitment to rent stabilization in general and to the rent stabilization ordinance in particular. Now comes the hard work of standing up the new commission! With interviews proceeding this week, who is in the running?
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President Trump on the campaign trail famously told the nation: “We’re going to win so much, you’re going to be so sick and tired of winning!” After winning on the border wall and immigration now Trump sets his high energy focus on winning on affordable housing too. Executive order #13878 creates a new cabinet council to sort it all out. Not a moment too soon!
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City of Beverly Hills has posted the new maximum allowed annual rent increase percentages for both Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 tenants effective TODAY. For the first time, landlords will be allowed a higher percentage increase for Chapter 5 tenants than for Chapter 6 tenants. The world has turned upside down!
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State Superior Court judge Hon. Mary Strobel has dismissed landlord Hank Dayani’s lawsuit to block the city’s registration of rental units. Dayani himself petitioned for the dismissal. Back in 2017 he requested from the court a temporary injunction citing numerous grounds, claiming that the registration program runs afoul of state law and also alleging harm to him and his tenants from the requirement. With a trial set for August 15th and little hope of prevailing, the plaintiff evidently concedes the city’s program is lawful after all.
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We hear a lot about the proverbial ‘mom-and-pop’ owner-operators of rental housing. They are hailed as hard-working, upstanding community members have scrimped and saved simply to have a ’nest egg’ on which they can fall back in retirement. But anecdotal accounts suggest they are also our least-professional operators. Here’s a snapshot of those poor practices.
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Mayor John Mirish has been preservation-minded when it comes to multifamily rental properties. Toward that end he has championed the state’s Mills Act tax-incentive program: give an owner a break on his property tax and contractually bind him to investing in the restoration and rehabilitation of the property. His initiative is picking up steam!
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Worn carpets, low-amp juice, and clogged drains are familiar to tenants living in older buildings. The law requires nothing better, only that premises be “fit for the occupation of human beings.” But who checks? Our complaint-driven enforcement system makes every tenant a non-deputized housing inspector. We need a systematic housing inspection program and we need it now.
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Does this sound familiar? “Housing campaigners have hailed a groundbreaking shift for tenants’ rights after the government announced plans to scrap ‘no-fault evictions,’” reports The Guardian. Tenants groups called it “the biggest overhaul for renters in a generation.” It should sound familiar: six months ago Beverly Hills ended no-just-cause termination for many of the same reasons: abusive business practices amid a housing crisis.
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City Council created a new Rent Stabilization Commission in April and applications are now being accepted. There are nine seats total and one third of them are designated for tenants including two voting members and an alternate member. The application window closes May 24th. Let’s look at some problems with application for the Rent Stabilization Commission application as posted on the website.
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