WE WON! AAGLA Advocacy Efforts Lead to $1 Million Direct Rental Assistance Program in Claremont
Deliberations on Rent Stabilization and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance Delayed Until May 9th City Council Meeting
At the April 25th Claremont City Council Meeting, the Council unanimously voted to create a new Temporary Housing Stabilization and Relocation Program with $1 Million in funding for rental assistance, more than 3 times the original proposal of $300,000. AAGLA had advocated for the new program and for raising the amount considerably based on $4 million available to the City as federal American Rescue Fund Act (ARPA) funds. AAGLA will provide additional details regarding the new rental assistance fund once they are available.
Discussion on the two proposed ordinances focused on (i) a rent stabilization ordinance and (ii) a Just Cause eviction ordinance with required relocation fees that was tabled and will continue at the Council’s next meeting on May 9th. AAGLA has strongly opposed both ordinances. AAGLA submitted formal comments to the full City Council opposing the ordinances, reached out to individual City Council members, sent a Red Alert to all AAGLA members throughout Los Angeles County urging them to share with the City Council horror stories for those currently under rent stabilization and/or Just Cause ordinances, and provided public comment during the meeting. AAGLA highlighted that there was no data provided by staff indicating that there was a widespread issue with substantial rent increases across Claremont and that Co-Star (a third-party aggregator of rental housing data) showed no sudden spike in increases over the past 5. AAGLA also pointed out that many owners are facing substantial financial losses due to the past 3 years of COVID-19 moratoriums and many need to move into their properties to recover. Adopting Just Cause relocation fees would force owners unable to pay such fees into selling their properties and result in the City losing naturally occurring affordable housing.
AAGLA will provide additional information once the agenda has posted for the May 9th meeting and will continue to conduct outreach to City Council members. AAGLA members who would like to join us for one-on-one meetings, please reach out to Max Sherman at Max@aagla.org to be added to our advocacy team for Claremont.
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.