Following a recent vote of support for the Justice for Renters Act made by Santa Monica City Councilmembers, the city’s Rent Control Board followed suit with a unanimous resolution in a Jan. 11 meeting, putting its confidence in the statewide ballot measure that has qualified for the November 2024 ballot.
The Justice for Renters Act serves as California voters’ third chance to expand rent control rules statewide, appealing the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act of 1995 which puts limitations on local regulations. Current rules prevent cities from limiting rents between tenants (allowing the units to hit market rate when a new tenant moves in), and prevents establishing rent control on any unit first occupied after Feb. 1, 1995, in single family homes or condominiums.
In a presentation to his fellow board members, Commissioner Lonnie Guinn said there’s "no big mystery" about what the Justice for Renters Act means for the board, but felt the board needed to lend an official motion of support to "meet the mission" and "not just let people assume" that they’ll support the measure just because of their subject of expertise.
Guinn added that Costa-Hawkins as currently constructed is hampering the board from its pillars, those being retaining housing stock, making sure rents are affordable in the community, and allowing for fair return to owners.
"Unfortunately [under] Costa-Hawkins, there’s one of those we can’t meet, and that is keeping things affordable … I think that in order for us to continue to meet our mission, we need to be able to have a little more leniency in the way we establish what we want as our rent control here," Guinn said.
The measure would prohibit the state from limiting the rights of cities and counties across California from maintaining, enacting or expanding residential rent control ordinances. Though similar propositions, Prop. 10 in 2018 and Prop. 21 in 2020, have failed public votes, Guinn feels like they’re "in a better climate now" for Justice for Renters to gain support.
Presenting alongside Guinn was Board Vice-Chair Ericka Lesley, who echoed the need for rent control to be put back into the hands of local municipalities, using public concern about the issue of homelessness to bolster her show of support.
"We all homelessness is on the rise … that’s one of the things that’s on a lot of people’s minds," Lesley said. "As rents increase across the United States, you see more and more people out on the streets. [To] decrease this is something that I think we all need to endorse and get behind."
Commissioner Kurt Gonska agreed with opening the statements from both Guinn and Lesley, stating that while a repeal of Costa-Hawkins would not require communities to do anything, it at least gives the board a chance to discuss what a post-Costa world could look like in the city. Currently, the city only sets rent control on units in apartment buildings constructed in or before 1978, and city ordinances cannot be changed without voters instigating a change with a city-wide ballot.
Gonska also pointed to one of Guinn’s aforementioned board missions as further reason for backing.
"Within our charter amendment and regulations, it’s stated that we are required to ensure that landlords have fair rate of return on their investment … this ballot initiative, if enacted, would still allow landlords within Santa Monica … control on existing units built after (Feb. 1) 1995 to still receive a fair rate of return," Gonska said.
The board has opined in the past about Costa repeals, a discussion Guinn wants revisited so they can decide "sooner rather than later" what changes they could potentially make to rent control laws in the event of Justice for Renters’ passage. Board Chair Anastasia Foster noted that past talks on the topic, such as in the wake of Prop. 10’s statewide ballot qualification in 2018, fueled subsequent board focuses.
Foster also stated that she’s looked towards what legal courses of action could be taken in a potential Costa-Hawkins repeal, but was adamant that the term "rent freeze" has never been used in her prior statements on the topic.
Along with the board, several prominent Santa Monicans have been backing the measure, including former elected officials and community advocates like Tony Vasquez, Sue Himmelrich and Denny Zane. The California Apartment Association opposes the measure, taking the position that Justice for Renters would slow construction of affordable housing and be a detriment in the fight against homelessness.
In an Oct. 31, 2023 City Council meeting, support for the initiative passed with four votes for yes, one vote for no and two abstentions. To that point, Boardmember Danny Ivanov said that the board had a "real opportunity" to show "unity" on the Justice for Renters issue, something the board agreed with the unanimous resolution.
