Santa Monica : Fairness of Rents Studied

In an effort to provide relief to owners of apartments with so-called historically low rents, the Santa Monica Rent Control Board has conducted a study of rent levels at approximately 25,000 apartments in the city.

Mary Ann Yurkonis, the board’s administrator, said the study sought to determine rent levels in 1978--the base year for the city’s rent control adjustments--and current rent levels. The aim, she said, is to develop a means of allowing rent increases for owners who claim their rents have been unfairly low for more than a decade because their 1978 base rent was below market levels at the time.

The board last week approved a $27,500 request by the staff to hire a consultant to determine fair market appraisals in representative apartment complexes throughout the city.

The consultant, Lea Associates, estimates that it will take about 3 1/2 months to complete the work.

Yurkonis said her staff is studying several programs to allow rent increases. One would allow up to a 12% annual increase on presently occupied units for certain owners who can demonstrate that special circumstances kept their rents low in 1978.

Another program for voluntary vacancies would allow owners whose 1978 rents were in the lowest 25% of all units of comparable size in their respective section of the city to increase rents to the current median level for comparable units in that area.

Under this program, for example, the rent of a one-bedroom apartment in Ocean Park that was $225 in 1978 and is now $387 would be allowed to increase to $467.

Yurkonis said all proposals are still being studied by the staff, and that the board would hold a public hearing on any final recommendation.