SR-5-A (9)
Santa Monica, ~ifornla. September 22. 1978
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TO: Nayar and City Counci 1
FROM: Council Member John Bambrick
SUBJECT: Notes on Rent Control Leglslation
1. Landlord can increase his rent in an amount not to
exceed the C.P.I. or comparable index - automatically
without prior permission of a regulating authority r
on an annual basis.
2. Landlord can increase his rents above the C.P.I. auto-
matically (i.e.. without prior permission, etc.) bU'41f
a tenant complains to the regulating authority, the authority
may issue an OSC to the landlord that he show cause at a
time and place what, if any. lustification he has for increasing
his rents above the index.
a. To the extent that he can justify (substantiate) the
lncrease,it will stand; to the extent that the increase
cannot be justified, it will be rolled back.
b. The regulating authority can be an existing commission
or a newly-created commission of Santa Monica citizens
(preferably 2 tenants, 2 landlords, and one homeowner)
appointed by the Santa Monica Council. The decision of
the commission to be appealable to the Council - by the
landlord or tenan4within certain prescribed procedure
(i.e., abuse of discretion, new evidence, etc.). The
commission wlll have no subpoena or contempt powers. The
landlord will have the burden of proof (substantiatin9 the
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Mayor and Ci~council
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September 22~ 1978
increase in excess of the C.P.I.).
c. The commission will make its finding and ruling upon the
conclusion of the OSC hearing and notify the parties
(landlord and complaining tenant) in writing. Either
party should have 10 days to file an appeal with or
to the City Council as the final arbiter.
d. If an appeal is not filed, the ruling should become
effective on the 10th day and if the landlord fails
to comply with the ruling (i.e., rollback), a civil
penalty of, perhaps~ $lOO/day could accrue until com-
pliance is met. To collect the accrued penalty, there
could be a lien upon the property and collected on the
tax bill or by a lawsuit filed by the City Attorney.
3. When a tenant voluntarily qUlts the premises or when the
apartment becomes available due to a valid unlawful detainer
judgment, the unit may be rented at the then-existing market.
Of course~ the rent agreed upon between the new tenant and
the landlord will be subject to the controls referred to in
paragraphs 1 and 2 above.
4. There should be no rollback provlsion primarily because such
a provision may be subject to constitutional attack (due process
and impairments of contracts). But perhaps the effective date
of the ordinance should be September 26, 1978.
JB:dar