No smoking illustration
News 

Cannabis Rule Change: A Loophole in the Smoke-Free Multifamily Ordinance?

Mark Elliot ,

The Department of Justice has proposed to regulate cannabis more like Tylenol plus codeine instead of hard drugs like heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine. Makes sense! Cannabis always seemed out-of-place on the schedule I controlled substances list. But the proposed reclassification to schedule II may open the door to the smoking of marijuana in multifamily housing. That is not allowed in Beverly Hills even for Cannabis medical consumption. If the new DOJ rule takes effect we might well smell weed wafting through our hallways.

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another communication fail
Commentary 

New City Website. Same City Hall Indifference.

Mark Elliot

We could fund a robust tenants’ rights campaign if only we had a nickel for every time that we found and reported a problem with the city’s website. And a recent redesign is scant improvement. For a decade we have complained to the city about poorly-organized menus, long load times, and broken links throughout the site. But after the redesign broken links are now our problem. Nearly all of our posts link to beverlyhills.org and overnight all those links broke. They now return an error page. To what can we attribute that oversight? Indifference!

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Commentary 

Pamela Azar: Remembering My Neighbor, Gone Five Years Already

Mark Elliot

Five years ago we lost to cancer Pamela Azar, who was a civic-minded neighbor and a passionate Renters Alliance follower. So much time has passed; how can it be? It seems like only yesterday that Pam and I shared a call or I opened my email inbox to see another uplifting message of support in our ongoing effort to wring better tenant protections from city hall. Pam died in hospice on June 22, 2019 before we even had a chance to meet though we lived only blocks apart. Here is a bit more about a lovely soul I am proud to have called ‘neighbor.’

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Micromobility devices graphic
News 

SB 712: Tenants May Keep a ‘Micromobility’ Device At Home

Mark Elliot ,

Landlords can be arbitrary when it comes to ‘house rules.’ We know landlords that don’t allow the storage of bicycles in common areas or even leased premises like the balcony. Yet few apartment houses provide bicycle parking. That is also the problem with personal mobility devices like scooters and e-bikes: where to store and charge them? On January 1st Senate Bill 712 took effect. The new law allows a bicycle, e-bike or other micromobility device to be stored inside an apartment. But some conditions apply so let’s look at the details!

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Deposit graphic
News 

Sacramento Limits Security Deposits to One Month’s Rent*

Mark Elliot ,

In recent years our state legislature has chipped away at certain rental housing practices that harm tenants every day. Most recently Assembly Bill 12 took effect on July 1st to bar most landlords from demanding more than one month’s rent for the security deposit. It was intended by legislatures to make renting more financially affordable at the front end. But it also provides a move-out benefit for tenants who would be ripped-off by their unscrupulous landlord: he can keep only one month’s worth of deposit without any justification. Here is what Assembly Bill 12 means for tenants.

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Juneteenth holiday highlighted
News 

Juneteenth: The Beverly Hills Construction Holiday That Wasn’t!

Mark Elliot

Beverly Hills employee unions asked for a paid holiday for Juneteenth. City hall couldn’t agree more and city council gave its approval in December. Would residents also get a holiday from construction on this new city holiday? Yes! Five months later council proclaimed it so. However the holiday ordinance was adopted two days too late for Juneteenth to be recognized as a construction holiday this year. The employees got their paid holiday but residents didn’t get our holiday so construction proceeded apace across the city. Read on to learn how we lost our promised construction holiday in 2024.

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Disruptive tenant provision B.H.M.C. 4-6-6(M)
News 

Are You a ‘Disruptive’ Tenant? A Hearing Officer Could Decide Your Fate!

Mark Elliot , ,

Dear tenant troublemakers: Did you know that the Beverly Hills rent stabilization ordinance allows your landlord to haul you up before a city council committee as a ‘disruptive tenant’? And if adjudicated as disruptive you could face eviction? Three tenants faced the process but none turfed-out by our council’s committee. Had an independent hearing officer heard those cases any could have been decided differently. Now city council wants to put a hearing officer in charge. The change is up for discussion on the June 18th council afternoon agenda.

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Juneteenth holiday added
News 

City Employees Get Another Holiday…and We Get a Break from Construction Noise

Mark Elliot

Last year Beverly Hills reached agreement with city labor unions to bump-up pay and benefits. Pay will rise much faster than inflation and employees can now cash-out a full two to four weeks of unused vacation time for pension-padding compensation under the new agreement. These changes, and more, will add $12 million in new employee costs over three years. But this new perk caught our eye: a new paid city holiday added to the existing ten city holidays. ‘Juneteenth’ falls on June 19th. If city council could, by the stroke of the pen, create a new paid holiday….can’t could make Juneteenth a construction holiday too?

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rent is rising graphic
News 

Maximum Allowable Annual Rent Increase for Chapter 6 Tenants: 3.9%

Mark Elliot

The maximum allowable annual rent Increase for Chapter 6 Beverly Hills rent-stabilized tenants has been posted: through June of 2025 the rent may be increased by 3.9% with proper notice. That figure reflects the May-to-May percentage change in the federal Consumer Price Index (CPI) for our region. (The maximum allowable increase for the relatively few Chapter 5 households, i.e. old rent control, for June is 3.2%.) The rent increases did not require city council approval because the percentages were again indexed to inflation after pandemic-era measures came to an end in May 2023.

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SoCal Edison graphic
News 

Renting Households Will Be Hardest-Hit by Electric Rate Change

Mark Elliot ,

The California Public Utilities Commission has approved a change in electricity rates that will hit hardest the smallest households that pay the power bill directly to investor-owned utilities like Southern California Edison. New for electricity bills in 2025 is a higher fixed charge of $24.15 monthly that will fund improvements to the power grid and the costs of mitigating damage from wildfires. Offsetting the higher charge is a modest decrease in electricity usage rates. The goal is to encourage consumers to buy electric appliances and vehicles but the cost of the policy change will be borne disproportionately by smaller households.

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LA County rent relief program splash screen
News 

County COVID Rent Relief is Available…With Caveats

Mark Elliot ,

Los Angeles County is providing another $68 million in rent relief to qualified LA County landlords for COVID–19 rent arrears. Funds will cover up to $30k in back rent if that debt was incurred after April 1, 2022. The caveats: the landlord must apply; and priority will go to geographic areas in the county that are deemed high or highest need. The application window closes June 4th.

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