> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Part-time dweller’s rent out of control - URL: https://www.smdp.com/part-time-dwellers-rent-out-of-control/ - Published: 2005-07-07T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T07:22:52.000Z - Author: Ryan Hyatt - Tags: Real Estate & Housing, Downtown, #archive-import *Part-time renter contends rent control plays favorites* DOWNTOWN LA — The vacation is over for one area real estate mogul. Robert Bisno, a millionaire with holdings throughout Los Angeles and California, will have to pay nearly quadruple rent for his beachside penthouse apartment after an appeals court ruled in favor of a rent control board decision which deemed his Neilson Way unit was not his primary residence, and therefore qualified for a rental cost increase. As a result, Bisno’s rent is expected to swell from $1,100 to $4,045 per month. If he chooses to keep the unit, Bisno may continue to appeal, a move his legal counsel said they are contemplating. Appeals court Judge P.J. Spencer said in his June 28 ruling that current rent control law has a “clear emphasis” on ensuring that its “beneficiaries are those who reside principally in their rent-controlled units.” Bisno, who has a home in an exclusive enclave in Beverly Hills, used his Shores’ apartment at 2700 Neilson Way primarily as a getaway spot. Spencer’s affirmation of an original Superior Court ruling from last year supported how the rent control law was intended, according to David Daniels, the RCB’s general counsel. “The court did the right thing in recognizing the board’s authority to adopt regulations designed to alleviate the hardships associated with the serious housing shortage we continue to face,” Daniels said. “The obvious connection between having rules that ensure that the beneficiaries of the rent control law are those who reside principally in their rent-controlled units is clearly something the court understood.” Bisno rented his 16th-floor, 1,088-square-foot apartment at the Shores in 1996 for a little more than $900 a month, according to city documents. Adjustments for inflation have left his rent at about $1,100\. That’s just a quarter of what Bisno’s luxury unit would command on the open market, a hearing officer at City Hall decided in 2004. A Santa Monica law, called Regulation 3304, allows landlords to charge part-time tenants market rates. Bisno led his court fight against City Hall over the legality of Regulation 3304, which was passed by the Rent Control Board in March of 2003. Allan Abshez, Bisno’s attorney, said the lawsuit was pushed because his client felt it was up to voters to decide who qualified for rent control. Abshez filed written arguments against the law in the state court of appeals in December of 2004, after Santa Monica Superior Court Judge James Bascue threw the case out earlier that year. In his court filing, Abshez maintained the RCB was acting beyond its powers by enacting Reg. 3304, which he added does nothing to alleviate the housing shortage or promote affordable housing. “What we have been arguing is that Santa Monica voters instituted rent control, and the law was intended to protect all Santa Monica tenants,” Abshez said. “The rent control board was not authorized to determine who would get rent control, or not.” > “What we have been arguing is that Santa Monica voters instituted rent control, and the law was intended to protect all Santa Monica tenants.” — ALLAN ABSHEZ Robert Bisno’s attorney Abshez said the RCB allows students and teachers living in Santa Monica to enjoy rent control privileges, while business people cannot, according to the parameters of last week’s ruling. Abshez argued in his appeal it should not be the right of the RCB to adjust possible rental rates based on its own preferences, which is what he said 3304 allows. “The scary implication of regulation is that not a single tenant in Santa Monica is safe,” Abshez said. “The rent control board could decide any resident who makes more than $50,000, say, does not qualify for rent control. “There is no stability in the structure because it all depends on the board.” Michaelyn Jones, an RCB attorney who worked on the Bisno case, said the Bisno suit was unique in that it set to throw out Reg. 3304. The law was passed under pressure from landlord groups in Sacramento, who were pushing for a statewide law. Reg. 3304 was designed to weed out renters who use their units as second homes, or for office or storage space. Tenants initially feared the law would be troublesome because it could encourage landlords to keep tabs on their comings and goings, even rifle through their refrigerators and mail boxes looking for evidence that tenants weren’t using their units full time. Those fears dissipated when complaints under Reg. 3304 dropped off after the first few months. According to the Santa Monica RCB office, there have been 161 petitions for landlords to raise rents in light of the regulation; of those, 68 have been granted; 39 have been dismissed; 22 denied; 21 have been withdrawn; and 11 are pending. If the landlord is suspicious a resident may be part-time and not qualify for rent control, a petition can be made that is heard before an RCB hearing officer. If either the landlord or resident do not agree with the hearing officer’s decision regarding the case, then the case goes before the RCB. Jones said each case is a “fact intensive process” in which the “totality of circumstances” are looked at. Regulation 3304 is intended to help keep rents low, Jones said, because if rent is raised for a tenant, it is subject to rent control thereafter. “It’s slowly working,” Jones said. “It’s kind of nice if you have a cheap vacation place in Santa Monica, but that’s not the purpose of the rent control law.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/070705-02_01.jpg) of Little Joe Y La Familia take the stage tonight for the second installment of the Twilight Dance Series on the Santa Monica Pier. (Photo: Photo courtesy Little Joe) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/070705-02_02.jpg) Crew members from Valley Crest Tree Co. (Photo: Fabian Lewkowicz/Daily Press) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 7, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/070705.pdf?ref=smdp.com)