Duarte : Landlord May Raise Rent

The owner of a low-income, 101-unit senior citizen housing complex has notified the city that he may impose higher, “market rates” on tenants beginning in two years.

However, Richard Tod Spieker, owner of the Duarte Gardens Apartments on Buena Vista Street, said he made the notification only as a formality--part of his efforts to persuade the federal government to increase the amount it pays to subsidize renters in the units.

The City Council, in an effort to make sure the rents stay low, on Tuesday approved a contract of up to $4,800 with the California Housing Partnership Corp., which will oversee Spieker’s negotiations with the government and advise the city on what steps it could take.

“There is no need for alarm,” City Manager Jesse H. Duff said. “The fact that the owners have given us notice doesn’t mean they will go through the process. . . . In case they do go through with it, we want to know all the options available to us.”