ACTION Apartment Association

Rent control tenants facing third highest annual rent increase in history

06/07/2022 8:12 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

This year, the 12 month change in Consumer Price Index published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics for the Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange County region was an unusually high 8.5 percent. This reflects the high inflation rates seen nationwide.

As a result, this year’s maximum allowable annual rent increase was calculated at 6.4 percent. However, the actual rate used will be 6 percent, as an amendment to the Rent Control Charter limits the maximum allowable adjustment to 6 percent in any given year.

Rent Control Board Meeting June 9, 2022

06/06/2022 9:20 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Agenda Item 11. - PUBLIC HEARINGS- Rent Control Board Meeting – June 9, 2022, 7:00 p.m., Via Live Stream

A. Consideration of whether to establish a ceiling on the 2022 General Adjustment.

B. Consideration and adoption of the RCB FY 22/23 Operating Budget.

C. Consideration of whether to amend subsection (b) of Regulation 11200 respecting an increase in the annual registration fee.

D. Consideration of whether to recommend to the City Council that the City place on the November 2022 ballot an amendment to the City Charter and Rent Control Amendment allowing for a suspension of rent increases during certain declared emergencies.

At its last meeting the Santa Monica Rent Board approved an annual rent increase of 6% as of September 1, 2022. This month, per item 11. A above, they will consider (meaning approve) a limit of the increase of $140 per month, which would apply to all units with Maximum Allowable Rents of $2,325 and above.

Source: Wes Wellman's Fast Lane News, June 3, 2022

SMa.r.t. Column: The Sound of Silence Is Big & Tall

06/06/2022 9:17 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

That well of silence would be the Planning Commission, the City Council, and Us, the resident voters, who continue to perpetrate the not too slow demise of what had been a fairly successful and desirable beachfront community, by being too silent. Residents and visitors alike shared the environmental, sustainable, and lifestyle benefits that a low rise beach environment, with fresh air, blue skies, and manageable traffic, provided for all, including for those in the Valley or the east side escaping the summer heat for a day at the beach. But success seems to breed contempt for “enough”, and greed “for more”, until it causes a rot, and in the case of a beachfront town that provided a relief, an escape valve, a ‘central park’ for so many, it builds itself into a shadow covered, traffic mired, non resident-friendly or un-useable, quagmire. Downtown.

LA County Treasurer and Tax Collector Mails Notices of Delinquent Payments

06/06/2022 9:15 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Keith Knox, Los Angeles County Treasurer and Tax Collector, is in the process of mailing approximately 162,000 Notices of Delinquency (Notices) to Los Angeles County property owners who have not paid their Annual and/or Supplemental Secured Property Taxes in full for the 2021-22 tax year.

New research casts doubt on rent control as a way to help the poor

06/03/2022 5:18 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Rent control was supposed to make housing more affordable for lower-income Americans. Turns out, it may be doing just the opposite.

Councilmember Brock's Open Letter on Transfer Tax

06/03/2022 5:07 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

I spend a lot of time listening to residents and it’s clear to me that the most important things we can do to respond to current concerns are to increase the levels of emergency response services in programs implemented by our public safety officers, such as the Police Department’s Homeless Liaison Program and the Fire Department’s Critical Response Unit, both of which operate on a limited basis today, and bring back critical services reduced during the pandemic such as library services, park maintenance and after-school programs.

Santa Monica Rents Sees Small Monthly Rise

06/02/2022 10:24 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Santa Monica rents rose by less than 1 percent last month after falling flat in April, according to Apartment List's monthly report released Wednesday.

The 0.8 percent increase in May brings the year-over-year rent growth in Santa Monica to 12.5 percent, compared to a 9.9 percent drop at this time last year, based on listings posted on the popular rental site.

Slow-Growth Heads Are Spinning

06/02/2022 10:22 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

State intervention is a bogeyman that is being evoked to get us to do the State's dirty work and destroy our city for them. Oh, don’t anger the State! They might be upset! Utter nonsense. The State has already declared nuclear war on Santa Monica. It cannot get any worse.

Affordable Spaces for Small Business

05/31/2022 10:38 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

SMa.r.t.

Los Angeles County recently proposed a program providing financial incentives for certain “Legacy” family businesses in their original historical location. They have been facing financial hardships for a variety of reasons like COVID, gentrification, and increasing commercial real estate rents, development, and land values. These are our “mom and pop shops,” and Los Angeles is losing many of these unique and symbolic places which help support and make a part of the Los Angeles community. Does this sound familiar with what is happening here in Santa Monica?

Poll Finds Strong Support for Boosting Security Downtown

05/31/2022 10:31 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The poll taken via phone text between May 19 and 25 found that 85 percent believe Brock's call for replacing the Downtown safety ambassadors with security guards and round-the-clock police patrols would decrease crime Downtown.