PROPOSAL BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE VOTERS OF A PROPOSED 
AMENDMENT TO THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF
SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA

           Section 1803 of the City Charter of the City of Santa Monica is amended to read as follows:                       

                        Section 1803. Permanent Rent Control Board.

            (a) Composition. There shall be in the City of Santa Monica a Rent Control Board.  The Board shall consist of five (5) elected Commissioners. The Board shall elect annually as chairperson, one of its members to serve in that capacity.

            (b) Eligibility. Duly qualified electors of the City of Santa Monica are eligible to serve as Commissioners of the Board.

            (c) Full Disclosure of Holdings. Candidates for the position of Commissioner shall submit a verified statement listing all of their interests and dealings in real property, including but not limited to its ownership, sale or management, during the previous three (3) years.

            (d) Election of Commissioners. Commissioners shall be elected at general municipal elections in the same manner as set forth in Article XIV of the Santa Monica Charter, except that the first Commissioners shall be elected at a special municipal election held within ninety (90) days of the adoption of this Article. The elected Commissioners shall take office on the first Tuesday following their election.

            (e) Term of Office. Commissioners shall be elected to serve terms of four (4) years, beginning on the first Tuesday following their election, except that of the first five (5) Commissioners elected in accordance with Section 1803(d), the two (2) Commissioners receiving the most votes shall serve until April 15, 1985 and the remaining three (3) Commissioners shall serve until April 18, 1983. Commissioners shall serve a maximum of two (2) full terms.

            (f) Powers and Duties. The Board shall have the following powers and duties:

            (1) Set the rent ceilings for all controlled rental units.

            (2) Require registration of all controlled rental units under Section 1803(q).

            (3) Establish a base rent ceiling on rents under Section 1804(b).

            (4) To make adjustments in the rent ceiling in accordance with Section 1805.

            (5) Set rents at fair and equitable levels in order to achieve the intent of this Article.

            (6) Hire and pay necessary staff, including hearing examiners and personnel to issue orders, rules and regulations, conduct hearings and charge fees as set forth below.

            (7) Make such studies, surveys and investigations, conduct such hearings, and obtain such information as is necessary to carry out its powers and duties.

            (8) Report annually to the City Council of the City of Santa Monica on the status of controlled rental housing.

            (9) Remove rent controls under Section 1803(r).

            (10) Issue permits for removal of controlled rental units from rental housing market under Section 1803(t).

            (11) Administer oaths and affirmations and subpoena witnesses.

            (12) Establish rules and regulations for deducting penalties and settling civil claims under Section 1809.

            (13) Refer violations of this Article to appropriate authorities for criminal prosecution.

            (14) Seek injunctive and other civil relief under Section 1811.

            (15) Charge and collect registration fees, including penalties for late payments.

            (g) Rules and Regulations. The Board shall issue and follow such rules and regulations, including those which are contained in this Article, as will further the purposes of this Article. The Board shall publish its rules and regulations prior to promulgation in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the City of Santa Monica. The Board shall hold at least one public hearing to consider the views of interested parties prior to the adoption of general adjustments of the decision to decontrol or reimpose control for any class of rental units under Section 1803(r). All rules and regulations, internal staff memoranda, and written correspondence explaining the decisions, orders, and policies of the Board shall be kept in the Board's office and shall be available to the public for inspection and copying. The Board shall publicize this Article so that all residents of Santa Monica will have the opportunity to become informed about their legal rights and duties under Rent Control in Santa Monica. The Board shall prepare a brochure which fully describes the legal rights and duties of landlords and tenants under Rent Control in Santa Monica. The brochure will be available to the public, and each tenant of a controlled rental unit shall receive a copy of the brochure from his or her landlord.

            (h) Meetings. The Board shall hold such regularly scheduled meetings as are necessary to ensure the timely performance of its duties under this Article. All regular and special meetings shall be called and conducted in accordance with State law.

            (i) Quorum. Three (3) Commissioners shall constitute a quorum for the Board.

            (j) Voting. The affirmative vote of three (3) Commissioners of the Board is required for a decision, including all motions, regulations, and orders of the Board.

            (k) Compensation.  Commissioners shall receive compensation in the amount of Each Commissioner shall receive for every meeting attended seventy‑five dollars One Hundred Fifty Dollars ($75150.00) for every meeting attended.  , but in no event shall any Commissioner receive in any twelve (12) month period more than forty‑seven hundred and fifty dollars ($4,750) for services rendered.  This compensation shall be automatically increased effective July 1 of each year, in an amount equal to the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the twelve month period immediately preceding July 1.  As used in this paragraph, the CPI shall be the index for All Urban Consumers for the Los Angeles, Long Beach, Anaheim Metropolitan Area (All Items), provided by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics or other comparable index as may be developed to take its place.  However, in no event shall any Commissioner receive in any twelve (12) month period more than Six Thousand Dollars ($6,000) for services rendered.  Additionally, Commissioners shall receive medical, dental, and health benefits, provided these benefits are routinely and customarily available to City miscellaneous employees.

            (l) Dockets. The Board shall maintain and keep in its office all hearing dockets.

            (m) Vacancies. If a vacancy shall occur on the Board, the Board shall within thirty (30) days appoint a qualified person to fill such a vacancy until the following general municipal election when a qualified person shall be elected to serve for the remainder of the term.

            (n) Financing. The Board shall finance its reasonable and necessary expenses by charging landlords annual registration fees in amounts deemed reasonable by the Board. The Board may direct that all or part of such fees may be passed through from landlords to tenants and may establish applicable conditions and procedures. The Board is also empowered to request and receive funding when and if necessary from any available source for its reasonable and necessary expenses.

            (o) Recall. Commissioners may be recalled in accordance with the provisions of Article XIV of the Santa Monica Charter.

            (p) Staff. The Board shall employ and pay such staff, including hearing examiners and inspectors, as may be necessary to perform its function efficiently in order to fulfill the purpose of this Article.

            (q) Registration. Within sixty (60) days after the adoption of this Article, the Board shall require the registration of all controlled rental units, which shall be re‑registered at times deemed appropriate by the Board. The initial registration shall include the rent in effect at the time on the date of the adoption of this Article, base rent ceiling, the address of the rental unit, the name and address of the landlord, the housing services provided to the unit, a statement indicating all operating cost increases since the base rent ceiling date, and any other information deemed relevant by the Board. The Board shall require the landlord to report vacancies in the controlled rental units and shall make a list of vacant controlled rental units available to the public. If the Board, after the landlord has proper notice and after a hearing, determines that a landlord has wilfully and knowingly failed to register a controlled rental unit, the Board may authorize the tenant of such a non‑registered controlled rental unit to withhold all or a portion of the rent for the unit until such time as the rental unit is properly registered. After a rental unit is properly registered, the Board shall determine what portion, if any, of the withheld rent is owed to the landlord for the period in which the rental unit was not properly registered. Whether or not the Board allows such withholding, no landlord who has failed to register properly shall at any time increase rents for a controlled rental unit until such units are properly registered.

            (r) Decontrol. If the average annual vacancy rate in any category, classification, or area of controlled rental units exceeds 5 percent, the Board is empowered, at its discretion and in order to achieve the objectives of this Article, to remove rent controls from such category, classification or area. The Board may determine such categories, classifications, or areas for purposes of decontrol consistent with the objectives of this Article. In determining the vacancy rate for any category, classification or area of controlled rental units, the Board shall consider all available data and shall conduct its own survey. If units are decontrolled pursuant to this Subsection, controls shall be reimposed if the Board finds that the average annual vacancy rate has thereafter fallen below 5 percent for such category, classification or area.

            (s) Security Deposits. Any payment or deposit of money the primary function of which is  to secure the performance of a rental agreement or any part of such agreement, including an advance payment of rent, shall be placed in an interest bearing account at a federally insured financial institution until such time as it is returned to the tenant or entitled to be used by the landlord. Unless and until the Board enacts regulations directing that the interest on such accounts be paid directly to the tenant, the landlord may either pay such interest directly to the tenant or use it to offset operating expenses, in which case the offset shall be a factor in making individual rent adjustments under Section 1805. The Board may regulate the amount and use of security deposits consistent with the purposes of this Article and State law.

            (t) Removal of Controlled Unit From Rental Housing Market.

            (1) Any landlord who desires to remove a controlled rental unit from the rental housing market by demolition, conversion or other means is required to obtain a permit from the Board prior to such removal from the rental housing market in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the Board. In order to approve such a permit, the Board is required to find that the landlord cannot make a fair return by retaining the controlled rental unit.

            (2) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Subsection, the Board may approve such a permit:

            (i) If the Board finds that the controlled rental unit is uninhabitable and is incapable of being made habitable in an economically feasible manner; or

            (ii) If the permit is being sought so that the property may be developed with multifamily dwelling units and the permit applicant agrees as a condition of approval, that the units will not be exempt from the provisions of this Article pursuant to Section 1801(c) and that at least 15 percent of the controlled rental units to be built on the site will be at rents affordable by persons of low income.

            (3) The Housing Element of the General Plan of the City of Santa Monica shall at all times contain a provision that neither the City Council nor any City agency shall approve an application for tentative subdivision map or tentative parcel map for a converted unit until and unless the applicant first obtains a removal permit as required by this Section. This Subsection shall not apply to any tentative subdivision map or tentative parcel map approved in accordance with Article XX relating to tenant ownership rights.

            (4) The Board shall render its final decision within one hundred and twenty (120) days of the filing of a completed application under this Section.

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This page was last modified on 01/23/2008