Helping Renters Is Task Force Goal

Hoping to better serve the nearly one-third of Irvine residents who rent instead of own, the City Council last week established a Renters Advisory Task Force to look at the issues and concerns facing those whose monthly housing payments go to a landlord instead of a bank.

The task force will include five representatives from the renter community, one from Jamboree Housing, one planning commissioner, and other representatives from the Irvine Co., Irvine Apartment Communities, UCI and the Fair Housing Council of Orange County. Task force members will spend the next 90 to 120 days finding ways to make life better for those who rent.

Mayor Larry Agran, who will serve on the task force with Councilman Mike Ward, suggested the task force be set up to find ways to prevent renters from leaving Irvine for more affordable leases.

“The demand for rental housing has surged, and so have apartment rents,” Agran wrote in a report to the council.

Apart from soaring rents, some apartment dwellers have expressed concern over their lack of a voice for issues in their living area. Unlike homeowners, who have the benefit of associations to set up and enforce rules, renters do not.

“Renters may call the city to express their concerns,” he wrote, “but the city has a limited role in addressing these issues.”