Rent Control Initiative to Go on Ballot

A landlord-sponsored initiative seeking to make a big dent in Santa Monica’s tough rent control law has qualified for the November ballot, according to the City Clerk.

The initiative would allow Santa Monica landlords to increase rent to market levels when tenants voluntarily vacate. The City Council has a competing measure on the ballot that would also loosen the rules of rent control, but with more limitations than the landlords’ initiative.

Landlords have argued that their initiative would provide an alternative to going out of business under the state Ellis Act. Since the state law passed five years ago, more than 1,000 rental units have been or are scheduled to be taken out of the Santa Monica rental market.

Apartment owners say they are losing money and cannot stay in business because rents in the city are so low. They view their initiative as a compromise between the current stringent rent control laws and no rent control.

Santa Monica City Clerk Clarice Johnson said the county registrar-recorder has verified 8,386 of the 11,700 signatures on the group’s petitions. To qualify the measure, the group needed 7,841 valid signatures.