Buck Wargo
CITY HALL -- Glendale can do nothing to stop steep rent increases of
apartments unless the city adopts rent control standards, City Atty.
Scott Howard said Tuesday.
Howard responded to questions from Glendale Housing Authority Chairman
Rafi Manoukian, who asked for a report on what options the city had for
dealing with higher rents. Under rent control, the city could limit the
amount landlords raise rents a year.
No members of the Glendale City Council, including Manoukian, say they
are in favor of rent control.
"If a landlord raises rents 15%, 20,%, 25%, there is nothing that can
be done right now to prohibit it unless there is some form of rent
control," Howard said.
Council members, who have spoken out against rent control in the past,
were mum on the issue Tuesday. Controlled rents appear to no chance of
coming into being in Glendale unless residents put an initiative on the
ballot.
But the idea became attractive to some residents this year because
rents in Glendale rose more in 1999-2000 than in the prior four years,
according to a study by the city's housing department. For example, the
average for a studio apartment rose $144 since 1994, but 88% -- or $126
-- of that increase took place in 1999-2000, the study showed.
Council members said they were leery of rent control because it would
give landlords less income to make improvements to their properties.
"I am opposed to rent control in principle," Manoukian said. "I don't
think it has accomplished its goal it was set up for. But I am concerned
when it comes to low-income individuals and seniors who are on fixed
incomes and who have in the past year received rent increases and are
subject to eviction."
