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LA County supervisors approve lower annual rent hikes
An apartment for rent sign.
(
Frederic J. Brown
/
AFP via Getty Images
)
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday approved lower annual rent increases for many tenants in unincorporated areas.
Beginning next year, rent increases will be limited for units already under rent control to 60% of the annual change in the consumer price index — a measure of how much costs in general are rising throughout the economy — with a ceiling of 3%.
But it allows “small property landlords” — those with no more than 10 units (including outside of L.A. County) — to increase rent up to 4%.
Landlords of luxury units, which are defined as two bedrooms or less that rented for at least $4,000 a month back in September 2018, can bump up rent to 5%.
RENT CONTROL GUIDE
How much can rent go up in my neighborhood?
- Read our rent control guide to find out how much your rent can be legally increased each year, depending on where you live in L.A. County.
Annual increases of up to 4% are currently allowed in rent-controlled housing in unincorporated areas through the end of the year. The board narrowly voted for a proposal to lower the hikes to 3% or less this summer, but it needed to come back for final approval.
The vote was 4 to 1, with Supervisor Kathryn Barger in opposition.
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The California Apartment Association wrote in a letter to the board that it’s strongly against the change.
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LAHSA also has failed multiple external audits in recent years, which have found the agency has neglected to properly track spending meant to shelter and house people. -
The city reported a 3.7% increase in Long Beach’s homeless population in spite of its investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in shelter beds and programs. -
Recent rulings have struck down requirements in L.A. and Pasadena for landlords to pay thousands of dollars to tenants who couldn’t afford large rent hikes.
“This provision … is disconnected from the actual economic realities that housing providers face and imposes unsustainable financial pressures on property owners,” Fred Sutton, the association's spokesperson, wrote in a letter to the board. “This price control threatens to force housing providers to defer essential repairs, ultimately reducing the quality and availability of rental housing.”
David Wagner contributed to this report.
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