Dear Editor,
A recent letter you published made a number of inaccurate and/or deceptive statements regarding Culver City’s new rent control ordinance. So, allow me to set the record straight from a “Mom & Pop” small multi-unit housing provider perspective.
The BAE consultant report did indeed find that 43.7% of Culver City renters are “rent burdened”. However, it left out the corollary figure that 56.3% of Culver City renters (a majority) are NOT rent burdened. In fact, again according to the BAE report, a full 33% of Culver City rental households have an annual income of $100,000 or more. Further according to the BAE report, 25% of renters in Culver City have lived here for 5 years or less. Why is that significant? Because at an annual average increase of 3.5%,(per BAE) they are ALREADY paying market rates and therefore don’t have to be concerned about exorbitant rent increases.
As far as Culver City being the “last” to institute a local rent control program. Utter nonsense. The five other Southern California cities that have local rent control, have had it for over 30 years. Not one city has instituted a new (extremely expensive) local rent control program since January 2020 when the state rent control law (the strictest in the country) went into effect, except Culver City.
Further, there is no evidence that Culver City renters need more protection that the renters in most surrounding communities (many of which have much lower annual incomes) which are under the state law, i.e. Redondo Beach, Hawthorne, Torrance, Lomita, Hermosa Beach, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Carson, Palos Verdes, Malibu, and approximately 90% of the other incorporated communities in California.
And one last salient point: not one rental household in Culver City that is already rent burdened, will be any less burdened by the rent control ordinance passage. No one’s rent is going down.
Sincerely,
Judy Scott
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