Renters Alliance | The Voice of Multifamily Residents in Beverly Hills Since 2017

If Recreational Marijuana is Legal, Why Can’t I Smoke It?

September 15, 2019September 16, 2019 Mark Elliot

City of Beverly Hills in 2017 adopted a strict no smoking policy that extends to private spaces in multifamily buildings (including condominiums). The ban includes marijuana and the use of electronic smoking devices too. So despite voter approval in 2016 of the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (Proposition 64) the recreational use of marijuana in apartments is prohibited by the city. That may frustrate would-be stoners yet some households still complain about the neighbors smoking pot. Let’s take a look at this complicated issue.

Explainer

156 South Reeves: Another Case Study in Neglect and Hazard

October 25, 2019October 26, 2019 Mark Elliot 156 S Reeves, maintenance, neglect, Stephen Copen

Beverly Hills landlord Stephen Copen’s properties are often an object lesson to fellow landlords: When we neglect to repair our residential rental property the inevitable result will be deterioration, decay, and ultimately, a hazard we visit upon our community. That’s the lesson we can all take from 156 South Reeves today. Just take a look at that overhead garage door that fronts on Charleville. It has deteriorated so significantly that it now sags and menaces passersby with exposed, rusty nails. How did it come to this?

News

Who to Watch in the Beverly Hills City Council Election

October 24, 2019October 26, 2019 Mark Elliot Campaign 2020, Farshid 'Joe' Shooshani, Julian Gold, Lili Bosse, Lori Gordon

Beverly Hills voters will elect two councilmembers at our upcoming municipal election scheduled for Tuesday, March 3, 2020. For residents who rent this is an important election. Because the rent stabilization ordinance has yet to be finalized, the incoming councilmembers will have real influence over key aspects like the allowed annual rent increase and relocation fees and more. But many other aspects of rental housing regulation are affected too. It is crucial we have a city council that is supportive of tenants’ interests. After all we are more than half of all city households! Here is a look at the announced candidates.

News

Landlord Workshop: Mills Act & Rent Adjustment [recap]

October 19, 2019 Mark Elliot Community Education Workshops, historic preservation, Mills Act, rent adjustment

City of Beverly Hills held its second landlord education workshop and on the agenda were the city’s Mills Act historic preservation incentive and the rent stabilization ordinance’s rent adjustment process. The Mills Act is a tool our city can use to encourage the maintenance and preservation of local register-eligible multifamily apartments. The rent adjustment allows a landlord to petition for a rent increase higher than would otherwise be allowed.

News

Metro’ Wilshire-Rodeo Station Work May Continue Through the Holidays

September 16, 2019 Mark Elliot Metro, Steve Mayer, Wilshire-Rodeo station

This Tuesday evening City Council will hear a request from Metro to allow construction (specifically station pilings) to continue throughout the holiday period, prior to Thanksgiving and extending through New Years Day. The issue is whether to require Metro to adhere to the schedule already formalized in a memorandum of understanding with the city, or to grant a waiver to allow that work to continue — and if so under what conditions. Will you be affected?

Landlord community education workshop overview of the room

News

Our Recap of the Landlord Community Education Workshop

September 15, 2019 Mark Elliot building managers, Community Education Workshops

City of Beverly Hills recently divided the community education workshop into separate tenant and landlord sessions. We recapped the August 12th tenant session and here we look at the September 12th landlord session, RSO Basics and Updates for Housing Providers. With two additional landlord sessions in coming months focused on specific topics like rental unit registration, turnout for this basics session was pretty light

Explainer

If Recreational Marijuana is Legal, Why Can’t I Smoke It?

September 15, 2019September 16, 2019 Mark Elliot marijuana, smoking

Commentary

Southeast Area is Movin’ On Up!

September 10, 2019September 10, 2019 Mark Elliot Dan Yukelson

Look around my multifamily neighborhood southeast of Beverly and Wilshire. You can’t miss the changes: newly spruced-up properties market remodeled

Explainer

TCM Fest O’Pests Reminds Us: Close Those Gaps!

September 6, 2019September 6, 2019 Mark Elliot DIY, habitability standard, Infestation, Pests

Turner Classic Movies today screened a few entomological-themed films that are guaranteed to make the insect-phobic squirm. Them (1954) and

News

Breaking: Sacramento Inches Toward Statewide Rent Control

August 31, 2019August 31, 2019 Mark Elliot AB-1482, David Chiu, Gavin Newsom, rent control

California leaders announced an agreement to enact strong tenant protections, says a release trumpeting Governor Gavin Newsom’s support for capped rent increases and just-cause eviction only. But we have been here before only to be disappointed by our Sacramento lawmakers. Because it is a rocky road from good intentions to signed legislation. Let’s look at what’s on offer.

Commentary

Rent Control & Higher Rents: Chicken-and-Egg Conundrum!

August 30, 2019 Mark Elliot Dan Yukelson, rent control

A Renters Alliance foot soldier forwarded a recent business section article from the Orange County Register titled, Fallout From State’s Rent Control Debate: More Rent Hikes. It caught my attention because it presupposes a familiar landlord argument: rent control leads to higher rents. Or is it that sharply higher rents lead to political support for rent control? Seems to me that this classic chicken-and-egg question deserves more thought than the premise implied by the article title.

News

What is Driving the City’s Housing Policy? RHNA!

August 30, 2019 Mark Elliot housing, John Mirisch, RHNA

Beverly Hills is now entertaining a wide-ranging discussion about housing affordability and accessibility and the key issue is how the city can provide stability to residents today while accommodating housing demand in the future. Cutting right to the heart of the matter is state’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment: an obscure and complicated process for assigning to localities some responsibility for providing new dwelling units in order to meet that demand. In fact RHNA as it is known drives every significant housing conversation in our city today.

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Explainers