Rent Control Ordinance Approved For Unincorporated Areas Of LA County

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - The Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday to move forward on a permanent rent control ordinance for unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.

About 100,000 people would be affected by the ordinance, which would cover only the unincorporated areas of the county.

Dozens of rent control advocates assembled before the Tuesday board meeting and joined Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who championed the proposed ordinance, and mayors from Inglewood and Culver City in calling for rent control as a way to address inequities.

A draft of the county ordinance is still in process, but Kuehl's motion anticipates a sliding cap based on the value of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) with a maximum increase of 8%. The CPI for Los Angeles is currently 3.3%.

The ordinance is expected to allow higher rents for luxury units of two bedrooms or less, require landlords to register rental units and prohibit evictions without cause, among other provisions.

Landlords in unincorporated areas are currently subject to a 3% annual limit on rent increases.

A statewide rent-stabilization bill is also pending.

"California is at the doorstep of enacting strong, statewide renter protections -- safeguards that are critical to combating our state's housing
and cost-of-living crisis," Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement.

(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)