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# Rent hikes help wealthy and put screws to poor
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/rent-hikes-help-wealthy-and-put-screws-to-poor/
- Published: 2006-06-19T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T00:16:33.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By MY WRITE BY BILL BAUER*

As expected, the Santa Monica Rent Control Board socked it to renters and landlords alike on June 8\. The occasion was the public hearing to approve the general rent increase for Santa Monica apartments under rent control for the 2006-07 year.

The board approved allowing landlords to increase rents 4 percent for all units, with a ceiling of $54, plus a $2 increase in the monthly rent control administration fee charged to tenants.

The general rent adjustment is determined by a formula that factors the annual cost-of-living increase for the Los Angeles area and increases in the cost of utilities and maintenance expenses incurred by apartment owners.

According to the rent board’s general counsel, David Daniels, the law allows the board to establish a cap on rents because the basic purpose of the annual increase is to allow landlords to keep up with rising costs associated with the rental business without over-profiting. The thinking is, the upkeep of most similarly sized units is about the same, regardless of their rental tariff.

The ceiling, or cap, is calculated on a formula based on the average rent for both market and non-market rate units below the 85th percentile of the average maximum allowable rent median. This eliminates the upper-15 percentile — or the priciest units — that would skew the median up. The average rent median is then $1,362 per month. Four percent of $1,362 is $54 — and that’s the cap.

Someone is profiting. Wealthier tenants paying more than $1,362 a month — their increases are proportionally less than tenants in apartments with lower rents.

Tenants in the priciest units — above $5,400, for example — are gifted with rent increases of less than 1 percent. Tenants in a $2,500-per month apartment will get about a 2-percent increase.

Landlords and tenants I talked to believe the cap is SMRR’s way of buying the votes of high end and market rate renters.

Renters in non-market rate, rent-controlled units almost always vote for SMRR causes and candidates because they’re told their vote will preserve rent control and keep their rents low.And thanks to SMRR, market rate tenants also get a break with the cap, as long as SMRR stays in power.

A $54 cap on a $2,000 apartment saves the tenant $312 annually, and more than $1,000 a year on a $3,500-per month unit — thanks to the rent control board, whose members are all in SMRR.

Then there’s the issue of additional charges related to interest on school parcel taxes and Santa Monica College bond proposals — all enthusiastically backed by SMRR. The fees or costs are passed on to all tenants by landlords with rent control board approval. Their costs are divvied up by numbers of units and tacked onto monthly rents. Upscale renters in larger buildings may see extra charges of pennies — if at all. Low-income tenants in smaller buildings, such as a triplex, could end up paying $3 to $4 more each month.

While the Renters Rights folks say they care about low-and middle-income tenants, their policies on rent increases for existing tenants and support of regressive taxes and bond expenses passed on by landlords are a double whammy affecting the poor much more than the well-to-do. But, it’s just something else that SMRR ignores in its quest for even more power.

With the time for people to announce their candidacy for municipal elections fast approaching, some well known names are now starting to pop up. Gleam Davis, who ran unsuccessfully for the board of education in 2000, is considering running for City Council. The Community for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS) activist is being courted by some SMRRs. There is an active “Dump Councilwoman Pam O’Connor” movement, and it’s growing. SMRR endorsed O’Connor in previous elections, however, now there is a Gleam in the wings.

Lifelong education advocate and CEPS co-chair Louise Jaffe is a probable candidate for the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees, as is former City Councilman (1986-90) David Finkle, who has told friends he’s running. The former judge is a long-time SMRR supporter who would help solidify SMRR’s and former SMRR co-chair, Nancy Greenstein’s control of the college board if elected. (Bill Bauer has lived in the same Santa Monica apartment since May, 1971\. He)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 19, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/061906.pdf?ref=smdp.com)