Rent control advocates picked up more support for a Pasadena rent control measure. Area housing nonprofit advocacy organization Abundant Housing LA announced it endorses the measure.
According to advocates, Pasadena Measure H would establish rent stabilization, just-cause eviction protections, and requires relocation assistance for tenants subjected to no-fault evictions or large rent hikes.
The measure will appear on the November ballot.
“Rent stabilization is an important tool to protect renters from being forced to leave their long-time homes solely because their landlord wants to raise the rent, and the smart design of Measure H minimizes the risk of negative consequences for renters and the housing market overall,” said Abundant Housing executive director Leonora Camner.
Abundant Housing LA is a pro-housing nonprofit advocacy organization working to help solve Southern California’s housing crisis by supporting more housing at all levels of affordability, as well as reforms to land use and zoning codes.
A coalition of the Pasadena Tenants Union and several partner organizations in the Pasadena community is behind the Pasadena Rent Control charter amendment campaign.
The ballot provision would amend the city’s Charter to cap annual rent increases at 2 to 3%.
A new rental housing board would be established that would administer the requirements.
Landlords would only be allowed to evict tenants for just causes, like failure to pay rent.
California rents are among the highest in the nation. In some areas rents on apartments now top $3,000.
About half of Pasadena tenants pay over 30% of their income in rent, according to the Coalition, according measure supporters. A quarter of the city’s tenants are severely rent-burdened, paying over 50% of their income in rent, they said.
The charter amendment would also close the “renoviction loophole” and allows tenants to return to their home if temporary relocation is necessary for health and safety-related repairs.
In addition, the charter amendment would stabilize rents by limiting increases to 75% of the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index and limiting increases to once a year.
“Abundant Housing supports these rent stabilization and just cause eviction protections because they are part of the package of policies necessary to confront the housing affordability crisis,” according to a statement released on Wednesday.
“Broadly, we need to expand the supply of market rate housing, protect tenants at risk of displacement, and increase the number of subsidized homes for low-income households whose needs the market won’t serve.”
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One thought on “Abundant Housing LA Endorses Pasadena Rent Control Measure”
Price controls restrict housing supply. Every economic study bears this out. The City of Los Angeles has had a rent control measure like this since 1978 and the end result is the rentals get worse over time, not better.
The supporters of this ballot measure, like Abundant Housing LA, appear to ignore that this will make housing less affordable for any new renter.
Rent increases being capped at LESS than the rate of inflation with no provisions to allow for just increases if a property needs major repairs, means that lower priced apartments will fall into disrepair because of a clear failure to allow incentives for improvements.
This Measure H rule is filled with all kinds of crazy things. Most amazing is an independent board, paid at 3 times minimum wage that controls all housing rules in the city but is not subject to any voter approval or oversight.