Cudahy Extends Rent Increase Freeze Until July 16th
Cudahy Again Extends Rent Increase Freeze and Considers Rent Stabilization Ordinance
On April 11th, the Cudahy City Council held a Special Meeting, announced just the previous day leaving very little opportunity for stakeholder engagement, and unanimously adopted an urgency ordinance extending the existing temporary rent increase freeze until July 16, 2023. The urgency ordinance is effective immediately and applies to all rental housing providers who have tenancies that began on or before April 10, 2023. As the ordinance under consideration is an urgency ordinance, it required a supermajority vote for passage, which is a four-fifths vote. We encourage members who live or own properties in the City of Cudahy to view the full details of the Ordinance:
The City Council had previously adopted and further extended this rent increase freeze in order to give the City’s Rent Control Ad Hoc Committee time to formulate permanent housing policies, including rent control and other restrictions to be imposed on rental housing providers. At the April 11th meeting, the Council received the recommendations of the Rent Control Ad Hoc Committee that included parameters for the proposed ordinance that would establish permanent rent control and “Just Cause” eviction restrictions in the City. The City Council was also asked to provide directives on two unresolved matters that the Ad Hoc Committee was unable to reach consensus on, namely whether the future ordinance should have a sunset date and whether it should include a fair market adjustment process to assist rental housing providers with below market rate rental units.
The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles (AAGLA) is strongly opposed to any forms of rent control a/k/a rent stabilization – a failed policy that does not address any of the issues that the members of the Cudahy City Council claim they want to address. It is unclear why Council Members Elizabeth Alcantar and Daisy Lomeli, who claim to worry about housing affordability, choose to promote the adoption of a policy modeled after cities that have some of the highest rents in Southern California and that are prime examples of the failure of rent control policies, including Los Angeles, Santa Monica and West Hollywood.
AAGLA provided public comment at a previous meeting urging the City Council to reject rent stabilization and instead engage in a constructive dialogue with all the stakeholders, including independent, mom-and-pop rental housing providers. In addition, we advocated for the City Council to conduct expanded outreach to the Cudahay community on existing renter protections already in place statewide under state law’s Assembly Bill 1482, and to create a City-funded direct rental subsidy program for low-income renters, seniors and disabled renters. We also highlighted the need for transparency by the City Council with members of the community to allow for proper engagement on such issues during regularly scheduled City Council meetings with advanced notice rather than last minute Special Meetings.
The new draft ordinance will be brought back to the City Council for consideration within the next 90 days. We will continue to monitor this issue, advocate for our members interests, and provide updates once the draft ordinance is available. We encourage our members who live or own properties in Cudahy to stay vigilant and participate in AAGLA’s advocacy efforts. If you would like to join one of AAGLA’s new advocacy teams, please reach out to Max Sherman at max@aagla.org.
This article is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions regarding your property or specific tenancies and the requirements of any local law changes described herein, please consult with an attorney.