ACTION Apartment Association

Proposed Charter Amendment Requires All Units to Register with Rent Board

03/17/2022 11:38 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Rent Control Board last Thursday proposed changes to the City Charter that would, among other things, require rental units not subject to the rent control law to register with the Board.

It would mark the first time the Rent Board would in any way oversee market rate rental units built after rent control was approved by Santa Monica voters in 1978.

Proposed Downtown Housing Development for the Homeless Gets $2 Million

03/16/2022 9:59 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Santa Monica development is one of five projects totaling $5.85 million in Congressman Ted Lieu's district that target the homeless under the $1.5 trillion bill signed by President Joe Biden.

The 6 cities and states trying to stop landlords from jacking up rent prices

03/15/2022 4:42 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Rent and evictions are on the rise all over the country.
At least 6 cities and states in the US are implementing or expanding rent control.
Rent control, or government intervention in the price of rent, is banned in 37 states.

Rent Control Board seeks new powers

03/15/2022 1:02 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Of greatest significance is a new proposed requirement to have an annual registration of all non-rent controlled units in the City. This would collect information on the occupancy status and commencement date of the current tenancy, rent prices, reason for prior tenants’ vacancy, the water/utility metering status of the unit, the amenities provided with the tenancy, and any changes in ownership.

Could Newsom’s new mental health court be a fix for local homelessness?

03/14/2022 4:17 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Governor Gavin Newsom has a bold new plan for a court system that he hopes will be a salve for the state’s twin homelessness and mental health crises. The details of his vision have yet to be fleshed out, but its principles are similar to a creative court program already in existence in Santa Monica.

SMa.r.t. Column: The Mythical Need for ‘Growth’

03/14/2022 4:12 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Our City is currently in the struggle to change its zoning laws, primarily by height increases, to issue enough building permits to increase our population by about 20% (8,895 units) in the next 8 years as demanded by the delusional State of California. The scale, and impracticality, of this dictate can be understood by realizing that it represents 88% of all the housing units built in our city since 1960. In other words we are expected to produce, in an already built out City, in only 6 remaining years, what took almost 60 years to accomplish?

Naturally, this is not something most Santa Monicans favor, since the vast majority understand, from their own experience, this to be an unnecessary, dangerous and ultimately unattainable goal.

Charles Andrews - LET’S CALL BS

03/09/2022 2:58 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

As residents of the city of Santa Monica, with monstrously tall and wide (and ugly) buildings being approved, spawning fortune-making progeny for a few but draining the wealth and soul out for the many.

Am I going overboard?

Apartment Owners Challenge LA County Renewed Eviction Ban

03/08/2022 1:04 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles and the Apartment Owners Association of California brought the still unofficial legal action in Los Angeles Superior Court, asking that preliminary and permanent injunctions be issued preventing enforcement of the renewed eviction ban as unconstitutional.

Housing advocates seek funding to repeal California law

03/08/2022 9:05 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

California lawmakers are trying again to get rid of the nation’s only law that lets voters veto public housing projects, a provision added to the state constitution in 1950 to keep Black families out of white neighborhoods.

SMPD pulling detectives, traffic cops to aid in patrols

03/07/2022 8:47 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

His current plan is to move a portion of traffic officers and detectives to “rotate through patrol” for certain shifts every week, bulking up the number of officers available to respond to 9-1-1 calls.