The City of Santa Monica has long been a leader in renter protections—but we’re falling behind when it comes to one of the most basic tools of housing governance: a rental registry. Cities like Berkeley, Los Angeles, and Portland already operate successful rental registries; we should be next.
A rental registry is a city-maintained database of all rental units and property owners. It allows cities to monitor, regulate, and protect the health of the rental housing market. Today, Santa Monica relies on tenant complaints for data and lacks a comprehensive registry that captures the full scope of our rental housing stock—market-rate units and corporate landlords operating outside our rent control system aren’t currently tracked. Without a registry, we are left guessing with incomplete and unreliable data about who owns what, where housing code violations are happening, or how rents are changing across our community.
That’s a problem for renters, who make up over 70% of Santa Monica’s population.
A well-designed rental registry would require landlords to register all rental properties with the City, providing basic information such as:
- Owner contact details and corporate ownership disclosures
- Number of units and unit types
- Current and historical rent amounts
- Occupancy status (occupied, vacant, or under renovation)
- Any pending or executed evictions
- Maintenance and habitability compliance status
- Unit amenities and conditions
- Lease agreements and move-in/move-out dates
With this data, Santa Monica could implement and enforce vital renter protections more effectively. We could:
- Track and limit rent-gouging by monitoring sudden rent spikes
- Track and limit corporate consolidation
- Enforce eviction protections, including those tied to just cause or Ellis Act procedures
- Identify buildings at risk of displacement, allowing the City to intervene early with tenant outreach or legal support
- Target Code Enforcement more equitably by pinpointing units with repeated violations or high tenant turnover
- Enable the creation of a proactive, systematic code enforcement program to proactively inspect for and monitor habitability issues
- Track seismic retrofit compliance and drive the program’s long overdue completion
- Support small landlords with maintenance programs and technical assistance based on unit size and property age
- Design better housing policy by analyzing rent trends, vacancy rates, and tenant and landlord behaviors citywide
Opponents will claim a rental registry is burdensome or unnecessary. But responsible landlords already maintain this information. Registration can be done annually online in minutes, and cities typically charge a modest fee—around $60–$100 a year per unit—that covers administration and enforcement. In return, the municipality gets essential data, tenants get vital protection, and good landlords get fair competition.
Santa Monica has been a national model for rent control. But as our housing landscape shifts—with more corporate ownership, illegal evictions, and stealth rent hikes through algorithmic price setting—it’s time we modernize our renter protections. “Affordable, livable, and secure housing for all” is one of this Council’s top budget priorities. Acting on this, we recently passed an expanded right to legal counsel and new rental emergency cash assistance with Measure GS funding—the most significant and tangible renter protections passed in decades. Now we must take the next step and invest in the necessary data collection to regulate our market.
Our Rent Control Board and City Council have directed the creation and implementation of such a database. Now we must fund it and expedite its implementation. A rental registry is smart, fair, and long overdue. It’s how we ensure Santa Monica continues to be not just a beautiful place to live—but a just one.
Let’s bring our housing system into the 21st century. The time is now to fund and develop a rental registry. In this economy, our renters cannot wait any longer.
Dan Hall
Dan is a renter and a Santa Monica City Councilmember.
