Protect Culver City Renters

On Monday June 24, the Culver City Council will consider a rent freeze. What is a rent freeze, and why does Culver City need one?

Renters in Culver City currently only have the minimum protections required by state law. Landlords can raise rents as much and as often as they want and are not required to give a reason for evictions.

Nearby cities, including Los Angeles, Inglewood, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Glendale, Pasadena, and the unincorporated areas of LA County such as Marina Del Rey, all offer tenants additional support, such as relocation assistance when a building is demolished or turned into condominiums, restricting evictions to cases of nonpayment, property damage, crime, or other serious misconduct, limiting the amount and frequency of rent increases, and monitoring what rental properties exist and what their rents are.

A study conducted by Protect Culver City Renters shows that large majorities of Culver City renters and homeowners support adding the renter protections our neighboring cities have, and that overwhelming numbers of Culver City renters are concerned about their ability to stay in their homes.

Other cities' experiences have shown that the City needs to implement a temporary rent freeze before a discussion of these protections can start. This will prevent landlords from raising rents in anticipation of future limits or as a way to intimidate or punish renters who support regulation. Glendale took this step last November and Inglewood this March.

At the May 28 City Council meeting, Protect Culver City Renters presented the Council with over 350 postcards from Culver City residents in support of a temporary rent freeze and requested action as soon as possible. The Council agreed to discuss a rent freeze on June 24. At that meeting Protect Culver City Renters will share their survey results and present an outline of a rent freeze ordinance based on those which have worked nearby.

To learn more, join Protect Culver City Renters at 7PM on the 24th at City Hall, “like” PCCR on Facebook, and follow @protectccrenters on Instagram.

Submitted by Jeff Schwartz

On behalf of Protect Culver City Renters