L.A. News Alert: Housing & Homeless Committee to Discuss Ban on Use of RUBS
L.A. News Alert: Housing & Homeless Committee to Discuss Ban on Use of RUBS
Take Immediate Action – Call and Email Today! Attend Wednesday’s Meeting In Person
The Los Angeles City Council’s Housing Committee is scheduled to hear a proposal on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, that would completely ban the use of Ratio Utility Billing Systems (RUBS) for allocating water and other utility costs in rental housing.
Virtually all rent-stabilized housing in the City of Los Angeles provides water that is master metered, and the elimination of RUBS would mean the loss of an important cost recovery tool currently used to allocate the costs of water and other utilities, such as waste hauling and sewer charges. This proposed elimination of RUBS was initiated by the City of Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) and recommended in a previous LAHD report.
The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles is strongly opposed to this harmful proposal to ban the use of RUBS.
Here’s How to Help: Take Action Now and Attend the Meeting on Wednesday
Meeting: Los Angeles City Council Housing Committee
Item on Agenda: Item 5
Time | Date: 2:30 p.m. | Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Location: John Ferraro Council Chamber, 193 North Main Street, 3rd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90012
Parking: 221 North Los Angeles Street and at 243 South Spring Street
Please submit comments by email for Council File No. 22-0178 at the following link: STOP RUBS BAN. Here’s who to contact directly.
Members of the Housing & Homelessness Committee
Nithya Raman, Chairperson
Website: https://cd4.lacity.gov
E-mail: contactCD4@lacity.org
Phone: (213) 473-7004
Ysabel Jurado, Vice Chairperson
Website: https://cd14.lacity.gov
E-mail: Councilmember.Jurado@lacity.org
Phone: (213) 473-3231
Bob Blumenfield
Website: https://cd3.lacity.gov
E-mail: councilmember.blumenfield@lacity.org
Phone: (213) 473-7003
Heather Hutt
Website: https://cd10.lacity.gov
E-mail: cd10@lacity.org
Phone: (213) 473-7010
Tim McOsker
Website: https://cd15.lacity.gov
E-mail: councilmember.mcosker@lacity.org
Phone: (213) 473-7015
Legislative Assistant: Sharon Gin
Phone: (213) 473-3231, or (213) 978-1074
Alternate Legislative Assistant: Jason Lopez
Phone: (213) 473-3231, or (213) 925-2208
Here’s What to Say
Stop the RUBS ban. We need you to share your personal story and these key concerns with the members of the City of Los Angeles’ Housing & Homelessness Committee:
- Based on a study encompassing hundreds of thousands of units utilizing a RUBS service provider in California, over the past several years, on average, there has been a 31% reduction in water consumption across rental properties utilizing RUBS for water cost allocation. In fact, a recent study following the ban on the use of RUBS in San Jose found that water usage increased at impacted apartment buildings following the prohibition.
- RUBS is one of the few tools available that encourages conservation of water and other utilities in older, master-metered buildings where individual-unit usage cannot be specifically measured. RUBS utilizes fair and reasonable allocation methodologies that allocate water and other utility costs on a variety of factors that ensure accuracy.
- RUBS allows housing providers to fairly recover rising utility costs tied to resident consumption. In the face of the city’s recent reduction of allowable rent increases to 90% of CPI up to a maximum of 4% (from previous 8%) and elimination of the 1% additional allowed increases for gas and electric in master metered buildings, maintaining the use of RUBS is critical to the survival of many of today’s housing providers who may be operating at the margins.
The LAHD proposal was developed without direction from the City Council and without input from housing providers.
Every call and/or email counts.
Every housing provider who shows up to the public hearing on Wednesday, whether they speak or not, helps make a difference. Don’t miss your opportunity to stop the RUBS ban and make a difference for all housing providers.
Are You Sick and Tired of This? We Are Too!
If you are growing sick and tired of these seemingly constant attacks on your investment(s) in rental property and the barrage of potentially harmful regulations, then please help us to fight back. Help us to influence and elect public officials who are sympathetic to the needs of rental housing providers and who will help ensure we have only fair and balanced regulations in the future. Give us the resources we need to fight back and win!
Go to: www.aagla.org/candidatespac today and make your contribution.