By Jonathan Friedman
Associate Editor

January 23, 2015 -- The Santa Monica Rent Control Board could soon be the place to go to review buyout agreements between landlords and tenants. 

Access to these agreements has been deemed important by City officials so that long-time tenants living under rent control know their rights when landlords attempt to persuade them to leave. Many landlords want to bring in new tenants who will pay much-higher market rates.

Board members last week scheduled a public hearing for February 12 on what Board member Todd Flora called a “hot item.”

All buyout offers and agreements will soon become public record because of a City Council measure passed last month intended to strengthen municipal rules to curb harassment of tenants. It is a matter of whether the rent board or the City Clerk will receive and handle the files. 

Since setting a hearing was on the agenda rather than the specific issue of whether the rent board should be the keeper of the records, there was little discussion on the dais about this issue. 

Board member Steve Duron said he wants to see a financial analysis to determine whether receiving and keeping the files would be “too burdensome based on our revenue source.” 

J.L. Jacobson, legal adviser for the Action Apartment Association, was the lone public speaker. He said this measure is not in sync with the rent board’s purpose. 

“Your duty is to enforce the rent control law, not the council ordinance,” Jacobson said.  

He also said it would be a regulation with “no enforcement mechanism” because there was no punishment for landlords who do not file agreements. 

The council's measure was one of several approved last month related to tenant harassment issues. It also clearly defined what is improper entry into units by landlords and increased the penalty for harassment violations, among other actions.

Buyouts have become a major issue, with some critics saying they are on the rise as a method for landlords to turn overt rent-controlled units, without tenants fully understanding their rights. 

“Landlords sometimes employ high-pressure tactics or intimidation to induce tenants to sign the agreements,” City Attorney Marsha Moutrie wrote last month in a report to the council.  

Stephen Lewis, general counsel to the rent board, noted at last week's meeting that there was nothing illegal about landlords making buyout offers, and that was not the purpose of the council’s actions. 

“The purpose,” he said, “is to make sure everybody is operating openly and that tenants understand what their rights are, particularly their right not to accept a buyout if they don’t want to, not to be subject to any sort of retaliation if they don’t accept it, and also to make sure the public knows about the buyouts and that there is a public record.”

Also at last week’s meeting the rent board selected its new leaders. Christopher Walton was named chair, and Ilse Rosenstein was appointed vice chair.