16 Item – Prioritizing Implementation of the Rent Registry Draft 1/6/25 Request of Councilmembers Torosis, Hall and Raskin to Strengthen Tenant Protections: Moving Forward with a Rent Registry and Funding Its Implementation in the Upcoming Biennial Budget In February 2024, the City of Santa Monica took significant steps to safeguard renters by codifying its Tenant Protections Ordinance, which introduced robust measures to prevent unjust evictions, enhance tenant rights, and promote housing stability. This ordinance marked a crucial step in addressing the City’s housing challenges and demonstrated a commitment to equitable treatment for all residents.
However, the absence of a centralized rent registry has limited the City’s ability to monitor and enforce these protections effectively and to ensure that all units throughout the City remain habitable.
Moreover, in the aftermath of the Los Angeles County Fires including the Palisades Fire, Santa Monica has witnessed a surge in rental prices, with some landlords increasing rents by over 120%, despite California's anti-price gouging laws that cap rent increases at 10% during emergencies. Implementing a rent registry is crucial to monitor and enforce these protections effectively, ensuring transparency and accountability in rental pricing. Such a system would help prevent exploitative practices, safeguarding residents from unjust rent hikes during vulnerable times.
A rent registry would provide a comprehensive database of rental housing information, equipping the City with the tools necessary to track compliance, identify trends, and develop data-driven policies to protect tenants and promote housing affordability.
To build on the progress achieved last year, this motion seeks to prioritize the creation and funding of a rent registry as a cornerstone of the City’s tenant protection strategy in the upcoming 2025-2027 biennial budget.
A rent registry will protect tenants and landlords by ensuring there is uniform enforcement of existing laws, and will provide critical data around housing availability and rent increases while increasing transparency around the habitability of units.
To ensure the successful implementation of Santa Monica’s rent registry, we direct the City Manager to work with the City Attorney to take the following actions:
1. Provide options for dedicated funding for the Rent Registry by allocating resources in the 2025- 2027 biennial budget to develop, implement, and maintain the rent registry, including staffing, technology, and community outreach. These options should explain potential trade-offs included as part of funding various phases of the Rent Registry development and implementation.
2. Within 60 days, report back to Council with a proposed implementation timeline for the Rent Registry including proposed milestones for the roll-out of the Registry, inclusive of regular updates to the public on progress.
3. Within 120 days, conduct and report back on outcomes of initial stakeholder engagement to inform the design, implementation and utilization of the registry. This engagement should include landlords, tenants, and housing advocates.