On Thursday, the Santa Monica Rent Control Board will decide whether to throw its support behind a controversial California Assembly Bill that would vastly change the way rent control operates in the City.

The bill introduced by local Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) and two other legislators from the Bay Area, Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) and David Chiu (D-San Francisco), would allow local jurisdictions to set rent control rates for vacant apartments and expand the number of units that fall under Rent Control.

AB 1506 accomplishes this by repealing the 1996 Costa-Hawkins Act which outlawed vacancy control in California, ending a decades-long practice in Santa Monica where the Rent Control Board set rents for certain apartments in perpetuity. After Costa-Hawkins became law, landlords were able to reset rents to market rate after a tenant moves out. About 27,600 apartments in Santa Monica fall under rent control jurisdiction because they were built before 1979.

Read More: http://smdp.com/bill-would-reshape-rent-control-in-santa-monica/160203