By Tom Hallen Santa Monica
Good article on rent control (“First-come, first-served,” May 19-20)! I used to live in a 12-unit rent-controlled building on San Vicente Boulevard in Santa Monica, and there is enormous abuse in rent-controlled buildings.
One of the tenants in the building owned a house in New Mexico. A couple owned a house in Calabasas and used the San Vicente unit for weekend getaways and for friends who were visiting the area; another couple had gross income over $120,000; another tenant owned rental property by Santa Monica Community College; and another tenant actually rented out his unit at close to market rate to make several hundred dollars per month! All these people, none who were needy at all, were paying about half market rate for their units.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 23, 2007. Read the original PDF.