Thousands of apartments repaired throughout city
More than 4,000 Santa Monica tenants have petitioned City Hall for cheaper rent based on the condition of their apartments since rent control was instituted in 1979.
Their complaints range from leaky ceilings to aging carpets and broken bathroom fans to torn screen doors. The reductions, which stay in place until the repairs are complete, range from tens to hundreds of dollars each month.
“The goal is to get the items fixed,” said Tracy Condon, spokeswoman for the Santa Monica Rent Control Board. “In most cases, the tenants aren’t interested in a rent reduction — they just want their unit repaired.”
“In most cases, the tenants aren’t interested in a rent reduction — they just want their unit repaired.” — — TRACY CONDON Rent Control Board spokeswoman
And it seems to be working. Though thousands have filed with the RCB, the majority of cases never make it to a hearing.
But some do. From 1999 to 2002, 149 cases were heard, with 114 decreases granted and only eight denied, according to the RCB’s annual reports. The remainder of the cases were either resolved out of court or pending a ruling.
The documents also show that many of the landlords, once confronted with the loss of revenue, act quickly to make the requested upgrades and bring the rents back to the maximum allowed by law.
During the same three-year period, one-fifth of the owners made all of the requested repairs immediately after the ruling. And dozens more eventually performed some or all of the repairs.
Joseph Fitzsimons, vice president of Sullivan Dituri Realty, a commercial and residential broker that oversees 1,250 units in the city, said some tenants misuse the city’s reduction clause.
“The board tries to be fair and administer the law fairly,” said Fitzsimons, who added that Sullivan Dituri receives less than 10 petitions for rent reductions each year. “But I think it’s open to abuse by those who know how to work the system. It’s just like any system, if someone knows how to work it, they can.”
Fitzsimons also said that landlords seeking compensation for upgrades face a long and complicated battle. He suggested the local RCB adopt a one-page application for rent increases like the one used in LA.
“There’s no short-form easy process and I think that’s one of the problems with the rent control ordinance,” he said. “It’s a very lengthy petition process, so much so that I think I’ve only done one in the last 20 years. The stack of paperwork was like five feet tall.”
Fitzsimon’s petition for rent increase, filed in the late 1980s, was for a complete building makeover, including redoing the roof, plumbing, stucco and paint. The board approved the requested rental increase.
The range for various types of repairs depends on the severity of the damage and the rent level of the unit, Condon said.
Tenants can get between $10 to $120 taken off of their monthly rent for each area that is affected by a leak and $5 to $60 taken off for each broken window or door. Loss of heat or hot water can warrant a $10 to $150 reduction, while defective plumbing or drains can lead to reductions of $10 to $240. Bad appliances or an inoperative elevator can cause a $60 reduction, carpet and flooring problems as much as $225 and broken cabinets as much as $40, according to the city’s rent control laws, which list several other categories.
Tenants who think they are entitled to a rent reduction first must tell their landlord in writing about the work they want performed. After giving the owners at least 30 days — but no more than 180 days — to complete the work, they can file a petition for a rent decrease with the RCB.
Once the petition is filed, Condon said the board first sends the matter to mediation, where more than half of the matters are resolved. If the two parties cannot reach an agreement on all of the items in the complaint, the case will be heard by a hearing officer.
Before the hearing, where both sides offer testimony, the board sends an investigator out to inspect the state of the unit. Once a decision has been made, either party can appeal to the RCB.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 10, 2003. Read the original PDF.