The Los Angeles City Council’s housing and homelessness committee passed an amended motion Wednesday to lower rent increases from 7% to 4%.
- Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez originally suggested a six-month extension of a pandemic-era ban on rent increases which would have pushed the effective date of allowable rent increases for RSO properties from February 1, 2024 to August 1, 2024.
- Soto-Martinez’s motion called for a continued pause on rent increases for units covered by the 1979 Rent Stabilization Ordinance, which limits the allowable rent increase for units built on or before Oct. 1, 1978. Under the ordinance, rent increases are tied to the Consumer Price Index – a measure of inflation – and have historically been in the 3-4% range with a cap at 8%.
- Instead, the committee passed an amended motion for lower rent increases from 7% to 4%, rather than delaying or completely banning increases. If passed by the entire city council, the amended motion would go into effect in February 2024.
3 replies on “Update to Los Angeles Allowable Rent Increase for 2024”
This is really not fair to the small mom and pop owners who invested in property to live their senior years in dignity. Costs have gone up considerably for repair and maintenance. Us senior owners have patiently waited and accepted the imposition in the past few years. The extra 3 percent maximum increase of 7 percent total is fair and reasonable and meaningful to owners. It will not impact housing or result in homeless .
As a renter of 30 years in Westchester my building went from an individual owner of many years (who I was personally friends with) to ultimately a LARGE L.L.C. with multiplied millions in Assets from rentals they have gobbled up. They were averaging a 3% yearly increase which has been manageable and for the last nearly 3 years no rent increase. I am not looking forward to the removal of rent hike moratorium but do understand the need of investors to make their investments pay off. It is sad to me that many mom-and pop rentals have been gobbled up by the large LLC’s and if the mom and pops can’t make a go of it, more and more rentals will end up in the Large Corporate portfolios which I believe will be a disaster for livable housing at affordable prices. I have no clue about Real Estate and Renter’s laws, but it would seem better to adjust the rent increases based on Private Owner vs Large Corporation, Income /expenses at smaller levels vs the multi millions of Big Investors rather than an across the board falt restriction which hinders the smaller owners but not the LLC’s. IDk if that is any kind of solution..but it seems to me ) that the rate increase could be more based on Size of ownership/ Private or Large Number of Units, and Portfolio incomes. I guess saying that the smaller investors should be allowed a higher increase and the Goliaths have the increase at the lower level. IDK, The only thing I know about REAL ESTATE, is I WISH I OWNED SOME!
Well said. Yes, the ‘institutionalization’ of real estate has been happening for years. Mom and Pop landlords have been and are being systematically squeezed out of the business.