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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-16-2022_Open Session_Item 3_AAGLA_RedactedAPARTMENT ASSOCIATION OF GREATER LOS ANGELES AAGLA “Great Apartments Start Here!” 1 Max Sherman Associate Director, Government Affairs November 15, 2022 Via Electronic Mail Hon. Mayor John Valdivia, and Members of the San Bernardino City Council Feldheym Central Library 555 West 6th Street San Bernardino, California 92401 Re: Discussion of Recent State Law that Provides Tenant Protection and Consideration of Establishing Local Tenants Bill of Rights (Agenda Item 3) Dear Hon. Mayor Valdivia and Members of the San Bernardino City Council: At its November 16th City Council meeting, the Council will discuss the Tenant Protection Act of 2019, Assembly Bill 1482 (“AB 1482”), and consider further studies related to establishing a local Tenants Bill of Rights. The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles’ (Association) strongly opposes any form of rent control and rent regulations and urges the Council to further assess the scope of the issues identified, seek targeted solutions and strategies that foster rather than hinder the availability of affordable housing, encourage further housing production, and enhance the City’s community education and outreach efforts on existing laws, programs, and resources. The Association, established in 1917, is a trade association whose nearly 10,000 members are rental housing providers and property management professionals throughout Los Angeles, Ventura, and San Bernardino counties. Many of our members are small business, “mom and pop” housing providers and include those within the City of San Bernardino. They are retired seniors that worked regular “9-5” jobs for decades, and who made sacrifices over the years so that they could afford to make a small investment in a rental property that secures and supplements their retirement income, medical, and other needed costs of living, and at the same time they are providing affordable housing to the members of their community, or in some cases, themselves. Our members chose to make an investment in their community, to house themselves and others, and as a means to provide financial security during their retirement years. These small business rental housing providers have had to deal with little to no rent collection for several years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and imposed government regulations and many are APARTMENT ASSOCIATION OF GREATER LOS ANGELES AAGLA “Great Apartments Start Here!” 2 now on the verge of foreclosure or bankruptcy y after having to dip into their savings to cover operating expenses. The loss of these small business rental housing providers will further reduce the City’s existing, limited affordable housing. The State’s comprehensive rent control and renter protection law AB 1482 - “The Tenant Protection Act of 2019” has been in effect since January 1, 2020. This statewide rent control law already provides significant protections to renters living in the City of San Bernardino and throughout the State of California, including limitations on annual rent increases, “Just Cause” eviction protections, and mandatory relocation fees for no-fault tenancy terminations. This State law was the result of extensive negotiations and input from key stakeholders, including both housing providers and renter groups. Shortly after it went into effect, in March 2020, numerous emergency measures and eviction prohibitions were established and as a result, Assembly Bill 1482’s full implementation and impact was not realized. Only recently, with the expiration of COVID-19 government mandates, have the provisions of the State Law begun to be fully effectuated. In the County’s analysis of rental housing costs on the San Bernardino County Rental Affordability website, the Riverside-San Bernardino metro area is listed as the least expensive rental housing in the Southern California region (as of 2020). This analysis does not indicate an “instability that poses a threat to the public’s peace, health, and safety” as noted in the City’s staff report. Additionally, according to data presented in the USC Casden 2022 Multifamily Forecast Report, the Inland Empire has among the lowest rates of construction relative to its population of any metropolitan area in the Country. While San Bernardino has experienced extraordinary job growth for the region, it has not kept up in terms of new construction. This lack of supply and inability to meet growing demand is the main driver of housing unaffordability and where the focus of the City’s efforts should be. Local rent control will only further intensify the problem. Rent control measures never equate to housing affordability and implementation of such regulations will not result in the construction of a single new rental housing unit in San Bernardino. Over the long term, rent control only exacerbates housing shortages, housing quality declines, and rental prices increase due to the shortages rent control inevitably creates and the resulting lack of available units on the market. Rent control will decrease the quantity and quality of affordable rental housing in the city and will only discourage the development of new rental units. San Bernardino need only look at the cities of Los Angeles, Santa Monica and West Hollywood for a case study on the ineffectiveness and danger of rent control. These cities have strong rent control laws yet some of the highest rental and homelessness rates in the state. Additionally, there is the associated cost to administer an expansive rent control program that could cost the city several million dollars each year, which are then often imposed upon housing providers in the forms of fees, which further drives the necessity to charge higher rental rates. Other local jurisdictions that have implemented local measures have been required to hire new personnel and have cost these jurisdictions from $2 million to $5 million per year. We urge the Council to recognize these tremendous costs prior to considering any local measure, particularly one that has been shown to be ineffective over the long term in addressing housing affordability and that will likely hurt the very City residents that the City aims to protect. APARTMENT ASSOCIATION OF GREATER LOS ANGELES AAGLA “Great Apartments Start Here!” 3 Accordingly, we urge the City Council to recognize the already robust renter protections provided in AB 1482 and consider the multitude of harmful impacts local rent control can have on the City’s ability to truly find a solution to the housing affordability issue. In place of such harmful controls, we strongly recommend the Council explore short and long-term solutions including building more housing and establishing a City funded rent subsidy program to provide financial assistance to low- income renters in need. We would welcome the opportunity to share our wealth of industry knowledge and participate in this important dialogue. Thank you for your time and consideration of these matters. If you have any questions, please call me at or contact me via electronic mail at Yours sincerely, Max Sherman Max Sherman