Board’s 3304 changes called ‘hasty reaction’
CITY HALL — A public hearing is scheduled for next month to discuss proposed changes to a controversial rent control law, officials decided last week.
The law, which makes it legal for landlords to charge part-time tenants market-rate rents, is being challenged in court by wealthy tenant and real estate investor Robert Bisno.
A judge last month stayed the law pending trial next year, saying it may be illegal because it allows landlords to set the higher rent level. Members of the Santa Monica Rent Control Board on Thursday discussed amending regulation 3304 so that the board itself would be able to set the new rent level.
“Staff is making a proposal to attempt to address the court’s concerns,” rent board attorney Doris Ganga said.
How much to charge part-time tenants would be determined by one of two methods. If the rent of one or more similar units in the same complex had been raised in the past three years, the average of those increases would be used. If not, the increase would be based on the market-rate rent charged for comparable apartments nearby, with some flexibility provided for amenities.
The amended law would allow either party to appeal the amount of the rent increase and the implementation of any decision would be stayed pending a final decision, Ganga said.
Allan Abshez, attorney for Bisno, blasted the board for considering the change. He was the only member of the public to speak.
“We have somewhat of a mess now because people’s rents have been increased, some people have been displaced, the court has decided the regulation was invalid from the time it was initiated,” he said, adding, “It seems to us that this is really rather a very hasty reaction to the court’s ruling. It will not salvage regulation 3304, and it will simply cause more disruption and litigation.”
Bisno stands to lose thousands of dollars each month if the law is upheld. Though he lives in an exclusive enclave of Beverly Hills, he also keeps a rent-controlled penthouse apartment at the Shores towers south of Ocean Park Boulevard, according to documents filed at City Hall by his landlord Douglas Emmett & Co.
With rent control, Bisno pays just over $1,000 for his two-bedroom apartment. But similar units command nearly $5,000 on the open market, Douglas Emmett officials have said.
Abshez criticized the board for supporting the law, which he said doesn’t promote affordable housing and may even be illegal because it hasn’t been approved by voters.
“The board should not become further enmeshed in this controversy, which does nothing to further affordability,” he said. “It does nothing for tenants. It just puts money in landlords’ pockets and it was not my understanding that that was the board’s business.”
City Hall officials disagree. Mary Ann Yurkonis, the rent board’s administrator, pointed to various previous actions by the board to change the amount of money charged to tenants, like after the 1994 earthquake, when widespread apartment damages led to reduced rents.
The rent control board voted unanimously to hold a public hearing on the matter Jan. 8.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 15, 2003. Read the original PDF.