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West Hollywood rent-stabilization supervisor reviews tenant protections, AGA and monitoring of 20% inclusionary housing requirement
Summary
Rent Stabilization Division supervisor Gloria Visas reviewed the Rent Stabilization Ordinance (enacted June 27, 1985), explained maintenance standards, just-cause eviction protections, the annual general adjustment (AGA currently 2.25%), and how the city monitors 20% inclusionary housing set-asides or collects in-lieu fees.
Gloria Visas, supervisor of West Hollywood's Rent Stabilization Division, presented an overview of the city's Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO) and the division's role in administering tenant protections, hearings and appeals.
"The rent stabilization ordinance became law on June 27th, 1985," Visas said, and she described the ordinance's three primary components: maintenance standards, eviction protections (just-cause) and rent increases tied to an annual general adjustment.
Visas explained that maintenance standards allow tenants to request reduced rent for loss of housing services or lack of maintenance; landlords may request increases for added housing services or based on net operating income. The city provides processes to confirm maximum allowable rents and determine whether a landlord has retained rent in excess of the MAR.
On eviction protections, Visas said the ordinance restricts evictions to just cause, with examples including nonpayment of rent or causing a nuisance, and that just cause must be the primary reason for an eviction.
On rent increases, Visas described the AGA methodology: it is updated on Sept. 1 each year at 75% of the annual change in the May Consumer Price Index for Los Angeles/Long Beach/Anaheim, rounded to the nearest quarter percent. She said the current approved AGA is 2.25%.
Visas outlined the division's operational duties: front-counter assistance, phone and email intake, hearings before an independent hearing examiner, mediation (confidential and voluntary) and a process for appeals to the Rent Stabilization Commission. She said the commission reviews hearing-examiner appeals and proposes regulatory changes.
On inclusionary housing, Visas described the program requirement that 20% of new residential development be deed-restricted for lower- and moderate-income households or that developers pay an in-lieu fee to the city's Affordable Housing Trust to support 100% affordable development or rehabilitation. She said program administrators verify set-asides or collection of fees as part of the development review process, deed restrictions are recorded, and units are leased via the city's affordable housing wait list; tenants and owners are re-certified annually.
Visas stated the city oversees approximately 4,500 inclusionary units as part of its housing portfolio (as presented) and that about 10 to 15 units are added yearly. She also listed rental assistance and tenant-legal resources, including Alliance for Housing and Healing, National Council of Jewish Women and the Jewish Free Loan Association, and legal-help providers Housing Rights Center, Bet Tzedek Legal Services and the Coalition for Economic Survival.
In answer to a resident's question about move-in habitability, Visas noted recent state requirements that landlords take move-in photos tied to security deposits and a January state law requiring landlords to provide a stove and refrigerator; tenants with unresolved habitability issues may be referred to code enforcement and to social-service supports.
Visas concluded by directing residents to the Rent Stabilization and Human Services web pages for additional information and contact numbers.
