Inglewood Adopts Major Changes to the City’s Rent Control Ordinance

Earlier this week, on May 4th, the Inglewood City Council adopted on first reading significant changes to the City’s rent stabilization ordinance (RSO). The changes include removal of the ordinance’s sunset clause which would have automatically repealed the ordinance on December 31, 2024, expanding the scope of the RSO’s applicability to small owners with properties of four or fewer units, prohibiting “no-fault” tenancy terminations based on substantial remodel, imposing expansive rental registration requirements that require even owners that are exempt from the ordinance requirements to provide proof of such exemption, significantly increases annual registration fees to $206 per unit regardless of property size and broad tenant anti-harassment provisions.

The amendments were first brought before the City Council at the April 27th meeting after the amendments had be publicly posted for only one full business day. During that meeting, the Council briefly discussed the extensive amendments and advanced several additional amendments including expanding applicability of the ordinance to Section 8 renters, allowing capital pass-throughs to be collected as rent and increasing the potential pass through amounts from up to $50 a month for no longer than 60 months to up to $100 a month for no longer than 72 months.

Due to the Association’s advocacy efforts, the Council advanced a new amendment waiving the initial fee for owners who register their properties between January 7, 2022 and March 31, 2022. The Council also pushed back the initial registration deadline from October 1, 2020 to January 7, 2022. Generally, upon timely payment of the registration fees, rental housing providers are permitted to pass through 50% of the registration fee to the renters of the applicable unit pro-rated by 1/12th on a monthly basis.

Prior to the initial April 27th Council meeting, we submitted a letter to the City Council raising objections to numerous proposed amendments and urging the Council to postpone discussion and advancement of the proposed amendments to allow for essential key stakeholder engagement and feedback. Such postponement was not provided and the amendments were advanced and swiftly adopted at the May 4th City Council meeting. While the Association raised numerous concerns with City staff prior to the May 4th City Council meeting, such concerns were not addressed during the Council meeting.

At the May 4th Council meeting, one final amendment was adopted, in recognition of the severe financial circumstances facing rental housing providers. For owners that are charging rent for a specific unit or units that is 70% or more below fair market value as determined by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and where the owner registers the unit on time, the registration fee applicable to that unit or units will be waived. This fee waiver applies on an individual rental unit basis and remains in effect so long as the rent for that unit or units remains within that threshold.

As a procedural matter, the ordinance amendments must be passed a second time prior to adoption. We encourage members with properties in Inglewood to review the amended RSO and consult with an attorney with any questions related to the ordinance’s applicability to specific tenancies.