News and Announcements

Keep Up to Date with the Spring Rent Control News

2018 Annual Report

• At year end, there were 27,445 units currently subject to the rent control law. Thousands more are potentially subject to the law when exemptions lapse or the units are rented.
• 25% of controlled units are still occupied by tenants who moved in before 1999.
• 30% of controlled units are occupied by tenants who moved in since 2016.
• Median initial rents for units of all sizes rented in 2018 were the highest ever recorded. The median initial rent for a one-bedroom unit was $2,395.
• An income of more than $100,000 would be needed for a 4-person household to afford a one-bedroom or larger unit if rented at median market rates.
• A net 2,222 units have been withdrawn from Santa Monica’s rental housing market by owners using the Ellis Act to go out of the rental housing business.
• Ellis withdrawals, as a percentage of units by city area, were highest downtown (33%) and lowest in the Pico neighborhood (3%).
• Staff assisted more than 13,500 landlords, tenants and others requesting information or services during the year.
• The number of petitions filed in 2018 by tenants claiming landlords had removed amenities or reduced services was the highest in 10 years – 97 petitions.
• 77% of excess rent claims filed in 2018 were resolved in mediation.
• Based on filings with the Board, the average amount of voluntary buyout agreements executed in 2018 was $54,611.

Maintenance Seminar and Landlord-Tenant Forum Videos Now Online

Property-Tax-Related Surcharges

In some instances, in addition to the MAR and one-half of the Rent Control registration fee, owners may charge tenants a pro rata (proportionate) share of some of the property taxes they pay. The surcharges are limited to five line-items on the owner's property tax bill which result from ballot measures approved by Santa Monica voters in prior elections. Surcharges may be passed-through if all the following are true:

• The tenancy began before March 1, 2018;
• The property value was not reassessed on or after March 1, 2018 due to a sale or voluntary improvements, and;
• The owner properly noticed the tenant which includes providing a copy of the property tax bill to the tenant - unless the only tax being passed through is the School District Parcel Tax (see below).

• Community College Bond
• Unified Schools Bond
• Stormwater Management User Fee
• Clean Beaches and Ocean Parcel Tax
• School District Special Tax

Owners Must Disclose Tenant Rights Prior to Making Buyout Offers and Submit Agreements to Rent Control

In Santa Monica, landlords and their agents are required to give tenants a notice of certain rights before offering any form of compensation in exchange for a tenant's agreement to voluntarily vacate a controlled rental unit. The Notice of a Tenant's Rights with Respect to a Buyout Offer is available at the Board's office and here. Landlords are required to file copies of all buyout agreements with the Rent Control Board no sooner than 31 days, and no later than 60 days, after the agreement has been signed by all parties. If a landlord fails to follow these requirements, a tenant may cancel the buyout agreement.

Tenants are under no obligation to accept buyout offers and should realistically evaluate whether any amount offered is sufficient to make up for the loss of a controlled rental unit. Additional information about buyouts and average amounts of buyout agreements filed with Rent Control since 2015 are available here by year, city area and unit size. You can also download a full spreadsheet of recorded buyout agreements.

OWNERS: Register New Tenancies Online

Owners Must Provide Rent Control Info Sheet to All New Tenants

Recognizing that knowledge may lead to more effective communications, the Rent Control Board recently adopted a regulation requiring that for all tenancies starting on or after July 31, 2017, landlords must give new tenants a Board-produced information sheet about the Rent Control Law at the time of lease signing.

The single-sheet document contains rent control basics including information about rent levels and rent increases, eviction protections, maintenance and repairs, and base amenities. It also includes information on other important issues affecting Santa Monica tenants and landlords such as home-sharing, smoking restrictions, harassment, and construction work in occupied buildings. Tenants are encouraged to acknowledge receipt of the information sheet by signing and dating the form. If a landlord fails to provide the information sheet to a tenant at the beginning of a tenancy, the landlord will not be able to implement the general adjustment for the unit until they comply with the requirement.