As of September 1, 2011, ALL 1,875 retail establishments are prohibited from providing light-weight, single-use plastic carryout bags to customers at the point of sale. MORE

By Jason Islas
Lookout Staff

September 15, 2011 -- Santa Monica renters may soon get more protection in landlord-tenant conflicts, and some may be entitled to more money if they have to move.

The City Council voted Tuesday to have city officials draw up ordinances that will broaden protections from landlord harassment as well as increase relocation benefits for affordable housing tenants. The action was in response to a memorandum sent to the council by the Rent Control Board last February.

“Santa Monica has fallen behind in the overall relocation amounts,” Adam Radinsky, head of the consumer protection unit told the council Tuesday.

A relocation benefit is a specific amount of money landlords are required to pay to tenants who are evicted for certain reasons, for example, if the landlord needs to move into the unit, Radnisky told the Lookout Wednesday.

The benefits are meant to offset tenants' moving costs.

According to the staff report, the last time the city council considered an increase in relocation benefits was in 2007.

At that time, city officials studied the rates of the relocation benefits for Santa Monica residents who had to move out of their rent-controlled apartment and compared them to two other rent-controlled districts – Los Angeles and West Hollywood.

However, rising rents and evictions have caused those districts to increase relocation benefits. Santa Monica will now follow suit.

The amounts vary based on the size of the unit, and the recommended adjustments range from $7,800 for a zero bedroom unit to $16,300 for two or more bedroom units.

For those that qualify – elderly or disabled people as well as families with children – higher benefits are available, but before last night, only for tenants who moved into their units before November 17, 1999. The new proposed ordinance has removed the date limitation, broadening the pool of those special cases who can receive higher relocation benefits.

The proposed changes would also extend protections against landlord harassment to all renters who currently enjoy just cause eviction protections. Just cause says that a landlord cannot evict a renter without a legitimate reason, like not paying rent.

Staff will draw up the ordinances based on Tuesday's recommendations and they will then go before the council for final approval.