SAN FERNANDO VALLEY : Wachs Proposes New Curb on Rent Hikes for Seniors

Mayoral candidate and Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs played to his political base Wednesday by proposing to protect low-income seniors from any rent hikes that exceed their annual Social Security cost-of-living increases.

His proposal to amend the city’s rent control law drew early support from senior citizens, a key target of the councilman’s mayoral campaign.

But apartment owners, besides having qualms about the equity of the plan, claimed that in today’s depressed rental market it might be moot. “I own a building, and my rents are what they were in 1985,” said Jerry Factor, past president of the Apartment Assn. of Greater Los Angeles. “It probably would have little practical effect in this market.”