Three appeals go before rent control board tonight
For the first time since a new housing law was passed in March, the rent control board is expected to decide tonight whether a handful of tenants actually live in their apartments.
If the tenants are holding onto the rent-controlled units as vacation homes or for office space, the new law allows landlords to raise their rents to market value.
Since March, 117 cases have been filed with the rent control board, according to Santa Monica Rent Control Board spokeswoman Tracy Condon. Under the law, landlords shoulder the burden to prove tenants are not using units as their main residences.
Of the cases filed, 29 were dismissed because the landlords failed to establish a strong enough basis for the case to proceed. Another 11 rent hikes were immediately granted because the tenants didn’t contest them and more than 50 cases are waiting to be heard by a hearing officer.
But 20 cases already have been ruled on. Of those, 13 were found in favor of the landlords and seven were found in favor of the tenants. Rather than accept the ruling of the City Hall-appointed hearing officers, more than a dozen landlords and tenants have appealed the cases they’ve lost to the rent control board itself.
Tonight is the first night the board is expected to hear those appeals. Of the three cases scheduled, two are appeals filed by landlords and one is an appeal filed by a tenant.
The way the board rules could have substantial impacts on the pocketbooks of local landlords and renters. For Robert and Jan Bisno, who rent a penthouse apartment in the Shores at 2800 Nielson Way, $3,831 each month is hanging in the balance.
Robert Bisno is an attorney and prominent local real estate investor who, according to city documents, lives in an exclusive enclave of Beverly Hills, as well as in the rent-controlled place in Santa Monica. Though rent for his two-bedroom, two-bath apartment at the Shores is set at $1,064 under rent control, comparable apartments command $4,895 on the open market.
Even if an appeal has been filed, landlords can raise the rent during the process. But before the higher rent can be charged, landlords must give a 30- or 60-day notice. The 60-day notice is required when the increase is more than 10 percent over what tenants already pay, according to the law.
Allan Golad, director of property management for Douglas Emmett, said the Bisnos were given a 60-day notice shortly after the ruling and their rent will be increased this month.
The rationale behind the new law was that rent control is intended to protect full-time residents by stabilizing their living expenses, but wasn’t intended to subsidize the lifestyles of part-timers who don’t need the protection. Some opponents, however, worry that the supply of affordable units under rent control will dry up if rents continue to be taken to market levels.
When the housing law, called “3304,” first came out in March, tenants gathered together with concerns that landlords would be overly aggressive in who they targeted. Those concerns gave way to worries that aggressive “big brother” tactics would be employed by landlords, who in some cases checked refrigerators for expired food items and reviewed security cameras to see if tenants were actually living in their units.
But recently, Golad said confusion over 3304 has quieted down.
“There hasn’t been any further outcry from the tenants one way or the other,” Golad said, adding that nearly all of the residents at the 532-unit Shores who will be pursued for rent hikes have already been notified. “Things have been really quiet. When it was new and everyone was unsure what was going on — all that has kind of died down.”
“There hasn’t been any further outcry from the tenants one way or the other.” — — ALLAN GOLAD Director of property management, Douglas Emmett & Co
Allan Golad
Director of property management, Douglas Emmett & Co.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 2, 2003. Read the original PDF.