Culver City Adopts $167 Per Unit Annual Rental Registration Fee

Rental Housing Providers in Culver City Must Register and Pay the Fee by July 31, 2021 with One Month Grace Period Through August

At Monday’s May 24th City Council meeting, the City Council adopted a resolution establishing an annual Rental Registration Fee of $167.00 per unit for all rental units covered under the City’s Rent Control Ordinance (RCO). The resolution also includes a $15.00 Change in Ownership Fee.

During the meeting which continued well past midnight and into the early dawn hours of Tuesday, council members heard from rental housing providers willing to wait to provide public comment and share their personal financial challenges resulting from the over yearlong pandemic.

The Association submitted a letter prior to the meeting and provided public comment during the meeting. We raised concerns and urged the Council to delay implementation of the fee until such time when rental housing providers are able to collect rent due, and for the Council to evaluate and amend the City’s rent control ordinance pass-through provisions to allow rental housing providers to pass-through 50% of the registration fee on an annual basis to all renters. We also advocated for the pass-through to be classified and collected as rent.

The City’s rent control ordinance currently permits a 50% pass-through of only the initial registration fee and only to renters that have continuously occupied the rental unit during the period of August 12, 2019 through October 31, 2020. The pass-through amount may not be collected as rent and must be listed as a separate line item. The pass-thorough must be pro-rated 1/12th on a monthly basis.

During the Council deliberations, Councilmembers Vera and Eriksson recognized the issues raised by the Association and the importance of amending the pass-through provisions to allow rental housing providers to pass-through 50% of the registration fee to all renters on an annual basis as rent. While this matter was acknowledged by the City Council, the Council adopted the resolution without modification.

Rental housing providers must register and pay the $167.00 per unit fee by July 31, 2021. The City provides a one-month grace period which extends the time to register and pay the fee to August 31, 2021. After the grace period, a late payment or failure to register will result in a 20% penalty assessed monthly up to a maximum of 100% of the fee.

In the next several weeks, the City will be distributing additional information about how to register and pay the fee.

More information can be found in the “Registration and Fees” section of the City’s Rent Control and Tenant Protections webpage which can be viewed at https://www.culvercity.org/Services/Housing-Health-Human-Services/Rent-Control-Tenant-Protection-Measures.