Rent Control Workshop for Landlords Next Tuesday

By Lookout Staff

July 7, 2011 – Santa Monica landlords will get some one-on-one help from the Rent Control Board next week as they figure out how much they can raise their rents when new rules take effect this fall.

The Board will hold a “Calculating the Annual Rent Increase - Rent Control Workshop” at Santa Monica's main library Tuesday evening, July 12 at 6:30 p.m.

“It's very basic math, but some owners find the process confusing,” Rent Control Board Administrator Tracy Condon told The Lookout Wednesday. Once landlords have attended one of the Board's workshops, they usually understand the system, she added.

Staff will steer landlords through the process of adjusting last year's rents so they don't make any costly mistakes. They'll work individually with landlords as they fill out the Board's paperwork.

Landlords need to R.S.V.P. so that staff has a chance to print out their individual records from the Board's database before the workshop. They should also come with copies of their current property tax bills.

A common mistake landlords make is to simply slap the recently approved 3.2 per cent increase on last year's rents, both Condon and local real estate attorney Rosario Perry told The Lookout.

It's not quite that simple.

First, the landlords have to subtract last year's surcharges. These are amounts derived from property taxes landlords have to pay like parcel taxes and school bonds, amounts which landlords are allowed to pass on to their tenants.

They can then calculate the annual adjustment from the resulting figure. After that, they can calculate surcharges which change from year to year, and add those back in.

Landlords who overcharge by mistake may run the risk of having to pay costly fines and will be required by the Rent Control Board to return the overcharges to their tenants, Condon said.

There are some other wrinkles. For instance, if a unit's rent exceeds $1,609, the rent increase is fixed at $52 a month.

And landlords are required to have registered new market rate units with the Rent Control Board, Condon said.

That way, staff has the figures they need to prepare Reports of Maximum Allowable Rents (MARs) and Eligibility for September 2011 General Adjustment – a personalized individual form the board mails out that lists the steps landlords need to take to calculate their rent increases.

Landlords who don't register their new market rate units can't take the adjustment, said Condon. And units that were newly rented out at market rate after last September won't be eligible for this years rent increase.

Additionally, the Rent Control Board website lists a number of surcharge exemptions and fee waivers.

While he called the workshop “a positive step,” Perry had some critical words for the Rent Control Board's process, which he said was “flawed with confusion.”

“The problem is, when a system gets so complicated an average person would have to see a lawyer to figure it out, it starts to fall apart,” Perry said.

Tuesday’s workshop will be held in library’s multi-purpose Room. Check in is at 6:15 p.m. The workshop will conclude at 9 p.m.

Participants should R.S.V.P. by phone at (310) 458-8751 or by email at rentcontrol@smgov.net.

“It's very basic math, but some owners find the process confusing.” Tracy Condon

“The problem is, when a system gets so complicated an average person would have to see a lawyer to figure it out, it starts to fall apart.” Rosario Perry