Facing escalating rents and strong opposition from landlords, the Rent Control Board voted unanimously Thursday to support a State Assembly bill that would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Act.

Landlord Michael Millman owns 11 buildings, one of which is in Santa Monica. He has long-term rent control tenants paying as low as $525 a month in his building. Millman argued the market-rate tenants are subsidizing the tenants who have not seen a significant rent increase in decades.

“I’m happy to keep them in the building because the market rate tenants keep the building in the black so I can keep their life perfect without putting any pressure on them,” Millman said.

Even with high prices, Landlord Elaine Golden-Gealer says it takes three to five years to recoup the investment she’s spent fixing up units.

“In order to get those rents to be higher I personally, and a lot of other owners, had to spend a lot of money,” Golden-Gealer said. “I spent 20 or 30 thousand dollars to upgrade the unit to make it very desirable.”

Read More: http://smdp.com/rent-control-board-supports-bill-to-repeal-costa-hawkins-act/160269