Pasadena has new rental protections in the wake of the Eaton Fire

The Pasadena Rental Housing Board this week passed a suite of amendments to its housing regulations meant to protect displaced residents, while helping to ensure a stable recovery from the Eaton Fire for both tenants and landlords.

 Ryan Bell, chair of the Pasadena Rental Housing Board, spoke to LAist to help explain what’s changed.

1. Protections for unauthorized occupants and pets

If you’re now sharing your rental with people or pets who were victims of the fire, you cannot be penalized, even if it’s in violation of your lease.

“Some leases say you can't add occupants without permission or that you can't have a pet,” Bell says. “Those lease provisions are superseded temporarily.”

This could affect anyone from Palisades to Altadena sheltering with friends and family in Pasadena, Bell says.

The amendment comes after a similar state protection, created through an executive order issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom, expired in early March.

It will remain in effect for 90 days from Feb. 28 (that's the middle of the last week of May).

2. Fee refunds for landlords who lost entire buildings

A prorated refund is available for landlords who paid the annual rental housing fee of $214.71 per unit.

“There were apartment units that burned all the way down. And landlords had already registered those units and paid the fee,” Bell says.

Bell says only about a dozen landlords will be affected by the amendment but adds that it isn’t fair to pay a fee “for something that simply doesn’t exist anymore.”

3. Allowing temporary rent reductions

Landlords can now temporarily lower rents without changing the base rent.

Much of Pasadena’s rental stock is subject to rent control laws, which cap annual rent increases at 3% above the base rent.

“But if a landlord wants to help me out because, say, I lost income due to the fire,” Bell says, “they could give me three months of a $500 discount and then raise it back to $2,000 without penalty.”

Bell says the idea came from a landlord. “We thought, yeah, that makes sense," Bell says. "That's an opportunity for a landlord to offer some generosity if they could and wanted to.”

There is no maximum amount of time that landlords can offer a reduced rate, but they must provide tenants with at least 30 days' notice before restoring the original rent.

4. Short-term rentals

Tenancy is typically established if you stay longer than 30 days somewhere, including a motel or a hotel.

To prevent displaced residents from having to move every 29 days, Newsom suspended this rule temporarily.

“We essentially adopted that as well, locally, and gave it a little bit longer deadline,” Bell says.

The regulation applies anywhere that pays a transient occupancy tax, including hotels, motels and Airbnbs. It expires May 1.

5. No evictions for nonpayment

L.A. County recently adopted a resolution preventing evictions for nonpayment if the tenant has been financially harmed by the fires. The city of Pasadena is reinforcing those protections by passing local regulations.

Tenants must also prove that they are seeking income replacement, such as a new job, unemployment insurance or a wildfire relief grant.

The result, Bell says, is that “if you lost your job due to the fire or were otherwise financially impacted, you can’t be evicted for non-payment for six months.”