Editorial Red Alert: Pomona to Increase Relocation Fees Up to $22,950

Pomona to Change Relocation Fees into Private Welfare for Renters

The Pomona City Council will meet on Monday, April 3^rd to vote on an urgency ordinance that would drastically increase the amount of required relocation fees multifamily property owners must pay to renters for “No Fault” tenancy terminations (Agenda Item 15).  The amounts will vary based on renter’s length of tenancy, factors related to age or disability or minor children, and household income (see chart below) up to $22,950.

A “Qualified Tenant” is defined as any one of the following: 1) 62 years old or older, 2) handicapped or disabled, or 3) minor dependent children in the home. “Eligible Tenant” is defined as all other tenants that do not qualify as a “Qualified Tenant.” 

Once again, Pomona City Council is trying to fastball this change past property owners in Pomona by falsely presenting this as an “urgency” ordinance.  The City already passed a different “urgency” ordinance on August 1, 2022 that is currently in place and provides for relocation fees equal to two months of current rent in effect PLUS $1,000 for all types of renters.  It is clear by this huge, proposed increase in relocation fees that the Pomona City Council is trying to convert a relocation fee intended to cover legitimate renter moving costs into a wrongful private welfare system for renters at the expense of a single segment of small business owners in Pomona, rental housing providers. Welfare is supposed to be provided by governments like the City itself using general funds as a safety net for those residents who need it.  It is shameful that the City is not fulfilling its responsibility and trying to put this financial burden onto the backs of private property owners.

The Staff report fails to provide any details on how the existing relocation fee ordinance has operated over the past 8 months (e.g., number of renters receiving relocation fees, type of renter receiving relocation fee based on age/disability/minor children at home, income, number of property owners paying relocation fees, size of properties paying relocation fees, etc.) for “No Fault” tenancy terminations. The Staff report also fails to provide any data attempting to show why the existing relocation fee amounts are insufficient to cover actual moving expenses for renters.

It appears that staff may be relying on the City of Los Angeles’ ordinance without conducting any of its own research or analysis of renters in Pomona. This is like comparing apples to oranges as the City of Los Angeles is significantly larger than Pomona and has substantially different variation of neighborhoods contained within it.  Even more egregious, staff have completely failed to recognize that L.A. City’s relocation fees specifically recognize small, mom-and-pop rental housing owners do not have the financial ability to pay such ridiculously huge relocation fees to renters and, therefore, have a special provision requiring much lower relocation fees to be paid.

Almost 20% of Pomona’s current multifamily properties have four or fewer units according to CoStar (a third-party aggregator of rental housing data) for tracked properties.  Pomona’s willful disregard for small, mom-and-pop property owners shows an inappropriate callousness and hostility towards small family businesses, many owned by retirees and new immigrants relying on their property to cover their daily living expenses and medical costs.

While the City Council does recognize that renters' incomes are an important factor for financial assistance, as it is with all government created financial assistance, including CalFresh, Medi-Cal and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Pomona fails to fully apply such a requirement. The City Council should limit ALL relocation fees to only those renters with incomes at or below 80% area median income (AMI). Renters making more than that amount do not need any form of financial assistance, especially out of the pockets of private small business owners.

We strongly urge all members that live or own rental properties in Pomona to attend the City Council meeting on Monday at 7:00 p.m. and speak at the meeting (arrive early to fill out and submit a speakers card).  We need everyone to turn out, so that the City Council understands that this is hurting rental housing owners that are real people, flesh and blood, and not just corporations.  If you will be attending, please reach out to Max Sherman at max@aagla.org, so that he can answer your questions about the meeting.  For those members that are unable to attend Monday’s meeting, we encourage you to call or email each of the City Council members to express your personal stories and urge them to VOTE NO on this new urgency ordinance.

AGENDA

URGENCY ORDINANCE

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