Commentary – Renters Alliance

Lili Bosse at the June 27, 2023 formal City Council meeting

Our Take on the 5.9% Chapter 5 Rent Increase

July 8, 2023July 27, 2023 Mark Elliot Chapter 5, max increase

City Council has approved a maximum allowable annual rent increase for Chapter 5 rent-stabilized tenants that is the highest percentage in three decades. At 5.9% it is nearly twice the rate of inflation for our region and it will fall hardest on our longest-term renting households that are almost exclusively headed by seniors who live on a fixed-income. Meanwhile these households are also exposed to a variety of possible pass-through surcharges (including for seismic retrofit). What are our councilmembers thinking?

City Council Installation 2023 invitation

Commentary

To My Rent-Stabilized Neighbors: No Need to Save this Date

March 13, 2023March 13, 2023 Mark Elliot Julian Gold, Lester Friedman

The installation of the incoming Beverly Hills mayor and vice-mayor will take place on April 4th, says the city’s official announcement. “Save the date!” But it is difficult for me to suggest my neighbors should save the date for a ceremony where Vice-Mayor Julian Gold and Councilmember Lester Friedman will be nominated and elected by fellow councilmembers to the offices of mayor and vice-mayor respectively. Not that I begrudge the honor. All councilmembers give generously of their time to conduct the people’s business. And every year councilmembers rotate into those two ceremonial offices. It just happens that I’m not feeling any love for tenants from Gold and Friedman and that puts me into something less than a celebratory mood.

Commentary

Forget Winter – We are in Tarp Season!

January 13, 2023January 14, 2023 Mark Elliot 352 S Reeves, habitability standard, water damage

Record precipitation hit our region as an ‘atmospheric river’ of water vapor stalled over California. The storm was preceded by a series of advisories from the National Weather Service warning of heavy rain, strong winds, thunderstorms and floods. Some areas saw more than one inch of rain per hour! Indeed the weather folks called last week’s storm the most impressive since 2005. That can present quite a challenge to an old roof!

Commentary

Nuisance Neighbor to Neighborhood Nuisance

September 28, 2022October 1, 2022 Mark Elliot 201 S Reeves, Stephen Copen

In early 2020 Beverly Hills landlord Dr. Stephen Copen rented to a tenant with a penchant for disrupting the neighborhood. Each month Copen collects $3,000 from this tenant for one-half of a small two-bedroom apartment in his building, which is at the corner of Reeves and Charleville. He also rents the other half of the apartment to another tenant. While this landlord takes it in hand-over-fist, we in the neighborhood have seen our peace and quiet disappear. How is it that a nuisance neighbor can wreak havoc for nearly three long years?

Commentary

Library Moves to Collect Old Fines Days Before Discontinuing Overdue Fines

June 27, 2022April 18, 2023 Mark Elliot Beverly Hills Library

Beverly Hills library collects a fine of 25¢ for each day that an adult book, CD or DVD is overdue. Those quarters add up and some households are in debt. Now the city is serious about collecting. Last week borrowers in arrears received an emailed notice threatening to refer that debt to a collection agency…with only ten days notice and an additional 40% added for referring it to collections. Libraries around the country have discontinued overdue fines and — wait for it! — so has our library as of July 1st. So why put the strong-arm on households in the 11th hour?

Commentary

My Rundown of the 2022 Beverly Hills Candidates

June 5, 2022August 10, 2023 Mark Elliot Election 2022

The choices tenants make at the ballot box will affect the affordability and availability of rental housing for years to come. This election cycle there are three of five City Council seats open. Incumbents stand a good chance of winning reelection. But if the composition of Council changes significantly we may find it tougher to win the continued improvements to the rent stabilization ordinance that we need for sufficient protections in this difficult time. Often I am asked which candidates I support. Here is my personal guide to the candidates.

Commentary

Why Does My Multifamily Alley Look Like Rubbish?

May 28, 2022July 5, 2022 Mark Elliot alley maintenance, solid waste rates

Here is a question many multifamily residents ask themselves every time they drop a bag of trash in a busted-up refuse bin: Why are so many of these giant black containers cracked, broken or missing a lid entirely? These cans, along with the proliferation of dirt and debris, make our multifamily alleys look like a rubbish bin. Won’t anyone in City Hall give a crap about the crap in our alleys?

Helen Morales at City Council meeting Jan 18 2022

Commentary

Our Take: Extend the Moratorium and Scratch the Lost Rent Increases

February 15, 2022June 23, 2022 Mark Elliot eviction moratorium

City Council today will discuss whether and when to wind down the city’s COVID-era moratoria on evictions and rent increases. Council will also discuss whether and how to allow landlords to recapture rent increases denied by the moratorium. From our perspective this is not a tough call: extend the moratoria to at least May 31st in order to align our policy with certain state and county timelines and close the door on lost rent increases. The benefit to COVID-affected tenants is significant and while the impact on landlords appears marginal.

Commentary

‘Fit for Human Habitation’ is Too Low a Habitability Standard

January 3, 2022January 3, 2022 Mark Elliot 421 S Maple, Edwin Gromis, habitability standard, MD

Beverly Hills needs a local habitability standard! Today the city defaults to the state law’s requirement: residential must be fit for human habitation. That is a low bar and most landlords meet it. But some problem landlords fail to maintain their property and then pocket the savings as profit. Case in point: 421 South Maple Drive in Beverly Hills. From the outside it is appealing to an apartment shopper. But poor conditions inside were a reminder that we hold very low expectations for the state of rental housing in Beverly Hills — and some landlords even fail to meet them.

Commentary

Courier Gets It Wrong: Relocation Fees Would Fall, Not Rise

December 19, 2021December 22, 2021 Mark Elliot Courier, relocation fees, Rent Stabilization Commission

Again the Beverly Hills Courier gets it wrong. A recent report says the Rent Stabilization Commission’s recommended change to Beverly Hills relocation fees would result in higher compensation for most tenants. Not true: nine out of ten households would receive a lower fee — as much as several thousand dollars less — while some households would see their compensation further slashed if they rent from a ‘mom-and-pop’ landlord. We try to correct the record with this letter to the editor but the “Newspaper of Record for Beverly Hills” declined to print it.

Commentary

RSO Basics and Updates Webinar: Our Review

November 11, 2021 Mark Elliot Community Education Workshops, Means & method plan

Beverly Hills rent stabilization division this week hosted a webinar Q&A titled RSO Basics and Updates. It is the latest virtual ‘training’ on tenant and landlord responsibilities. Helen Morales, deputy director of the rent stabilization division, walked through the basics: history of the rent stabilization ordinance, reasons for no-fault termination, the city’s moratorium and more. Dry stuff mostly, but there are a few nuggets to highlight before we render our verdict.

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