Rent-control law uncertainty
Nearly a year after its passage, measure still leaves tenants and landlords with questions
Almost a year after the Pomona City Council passed an urgency ordinance intended to protect renters, questions about who qualifies for the program, and under what circumstances, remain.
Those questions and others surfaced earlier this month at an informational meeting hosted by Irvine-based RSG, the consulting agency hired by the city to research the long-term effects of the rent-control ordinance and how to better implement it.
The City Council is expected to further study the ordinance in mid-august, when it will get feedback on how the rules have worked since their adoption Aug. 1.
At the informational meeting July 12, landlords and tenants sought clarity on those rules, which cap rent increases and, in some cases, require landlords to pay their tenants’ relocation costs.
Cassie Wright, a landlord who owns a small, multifamily unit in Pomona, said at the meeting that he charges a low rate for his one-bedroom units at $1,200 and needs to move back into his building.
“I am moving back into the Pomona area from a location that did not have to pay relocation fees,” Wright said. “I can’t move back into my own building unless I pay a relocation fee to my tenants. I don’t think that’s fair.”
On the other side of the ordinance are renters looking for protection.
Dorothy Gallagher, a longtime Pomona renter, and a few of her fellow tenants raised concerns over the new ownership of their building and the owner’s lack of awareness about the ordinance.
“We have a new owner that came in December, and in June,
“I am moving back into the Pomona area from a location that did not have to pay relocation fees. I can’t move back into my own building unless I pay a relocation fee to my tenants. I don’t think that’s fair.”
— Cassie Wright, a landlord who owns a small, multifamily unit in Pomona
we got the notice she wanted to raise the rent for most of us at 10 or 11%,” Gallagher said. “Obviously, our new landlord is going by the state limits and obviously doesn’t know her building in the city of Pomona has to comply with the ordinance.”
Currently, the state and county guidelines for rent increases are limited to 10% in a 12-month period or 5% plus the percentage change in cost of living. The Pomona ordinance caps rent increases at 4%.
The city’s rent cap was adopted under an urgency ordinance, which the California State Association of Counties notes requires four-fifths of a vote to pass for the preservation of the public peace, health or safety. Nonurgency
ordinances require a stricter set of regulations to pass.
In Pomona, advocates for renters have been pushing for policies meant to blunt the effects of surging housing costs. Of the city’s 18,648 renter households, 61% use a third or more of their gross incomes on housing costs, a 2020 study by the Southern California Association of Governments showed.
The council adopted the urgency ordinance Aug. 1 and amended it April 17.
In addition to capping rent increases, under the ordinance, tenants who must relocate due to a no-fault eviction may be owed relocation assistance.
No-fault evictions may be the result of a landlord reclaiming a unit for primary residency, demolishing or beginning extensive renovations to a unit or removing a unit from the rental market.
After determining if a tenant is being evicted through no fault of his own, the Pomona ordinance then goes into further detail about the two classes of no-fault evictions — qualified tenants and eligible tenants.
Qualified tenants are 62 years or older, or who have a disability as defined by state and federal law. A household with one or more minor dependent children also qualifies under the Pomona ordinance.
Eligible tenants are those who are not defined as qualified tenants but still are facing a no-fault eviction.
Under the ordinance, relocation assistance fees designated to help protect renters in these circumstances range from $6,164 to $15,377, depending upon the specifics of each case and where they fall within the requirements. According to the most current fair-market rent values,
the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Pomona is $1,921 and $2,444 for a two-bedroom apartment.
At the July 12 meeting, landlords and tenants learned a petition process is under development that would allow tenants to challenge the amount of relocation fees paid and landlords to seek to pay lower amounts. The city has yet to announce or decide who will preside over such petitions.
A City Council study session on the matter is set for 6 p.m. Aug. 14 at the Palomares Community Center, 499 E. Arrow Highway. The study session will provide residents with the opportunity to address their concerns to the council. This meeting will provide the council with additional information and feedback to make further decisions about the ordinance.