Karen S. Kim
When it comes to rental complaints, Glendale is one
high-maintenance city.
Statistics from the Pasadena-based Housing Rights Center show that
Glendale ranks third in services required among the 35 cities under
the agency's purview.
The ranking is an improvement from the preceding two years, when
Glendale ranked second, surpassed only by Pasadena.
"In Pasadena and Glendale specifically, they just seem to have
less and less vacant housing," Housing Rights Center Executive
Director Frances Espinoza said.
"Landlords can be more choosy about who they want to rent to. And
with the market rates getting so high, if landlords have people in
there paying a low amount, they can jack up the rent and have someone
who will pay a higher rent come in there.
"They know that people will pay a lot right now to move into an
apartment."
Glendale residents' top complaint was rent increases, with 252
calls, or 22.6%. The second-biggest issue among Glendale tenants and
landlords was repairs to properties, with 218 calls, or 19.6%.
The third-highest number of Glendale callers, 190 people or 17.1%,
needed help regarding 30-day eviction notices, according to Housing
Rights Center statistics.
Of its 10,162 clients between July 1, 2001 and June 30, 2002, the
Housing Rights Center served 1,113 from Glendale, Espinoza said.
During fiscal year 2000-01, tenants and landlords from Glendale
accounted for 12.7% of the Housing Rights Center's total clients.
In fiscal year 1999-2000, 12.6% of the agency's clients, and
workload, could be traced back to Glendale.
However, Glendale's monetary contribution to the Housing Rights
Center, which depends mainly on funding from the cities it serves, is
sorely disproportionate, Espinoza said.
"Overall, we're just underfunded by them," she said, adding that
cities with smaller populations and fewer clients provide more
funding to the Housing Rights Center.
In comparison to the $20,000 Glendale provides each year, cities
like Alhambra and Monterey Park pay about $25,000 for the Housing
Rights Center each year. Pasadena, which tops the list for services
required, pays about $58,000 each year.
Delia Barreto, administrative analyst for Glendale, said the
funding for the center is determined by an advisory committee of
community members that allocates community development block grants
for social services.
"They review proposals, interview the applicants, and sometimes
they have to decide, 'Well, we can't fund you this year, or we really
like your program, but we have to fund so many programs, we have to
scale back your proposal,'" she said.
Espinoza said the funding she receives from Glendale is not enough
to cover the amount of calls the agency receives from Glendale.
Funding from other sources must be found each year to cover the
shortfall, she said.
