Are there any Exemptions to this?
If you are a mom and pop rental property owner in Pasadena, it is likely that if you own a multifamily property built before 1995 you are covered by these rules. Your attorney can help you determine this and I can assist you in learning the details of your specific property via email at adam@propertybyadam.com
One of the questions that should always come up with price controls is:
Are there any exemptions to this?
Measure H was written by tenant’s rights groups as a tool to shape the rental market in Pasadena but there are state laws in California that prohibit rental price controls on certain properties. In addition to the the price controls that restrict rent increases to less than the rate of inflation, Measure H also applies rules for evictions and asking a tenant to move through no fault of their own. The third component is a required rental registry and tax imposed by the Rental Housing Board (RHB) to pay for the systems. This is labeled as a fee but since the beneficiaries are not the people paying the fee, it is correctly termed a tax and is subject to a lawsuit by several landlords filed in late 2022.
This post is focused on the price control aspect only.
Built into the Measure H Charter Amendment is section 18.04 labeled as exemptions and section 18.05 creates a very limited ability to rent a single family home for a fixed period of 1 year without paying the relocation fees. Both sections are copied below.
Mainly, those properties fall into these categories
1) Single family homes. Specifically, any home that is the only property on a parcel. If you build an ADU, the property will be subject to the price controls for any property built before 1995
2) Any apartment built after 1995. There was an agreement made to pass a law called the Costa Hawkins Law. That law crafted some baseline requirements that would allow cities like Pasadena to pass rent control laws but NOT to cover future development. Pasadena rental properties built after 1995 are, in general, exempt.
3) Any property that was developed and built with Inclusionary Housing Requirements, Density Bonuses, Waivers and Incentives. Essentially, these are usually projects that included government funds to build. In addition, non-profits, hotels, buildings that use Section 8 funding and those owned by the government are likely exempted but this needs to be confirmed.
If you are a mom and pop rental property owner in Pasadena, it is likely that if you own a multifamily property built before 1995 you are covered by these rules. Your attorney can help you determine this and I can assist you in learning the details of your specific property via email at adam@propertybyadam.com
*as always, this website is not able to provide you with legal advice and should not be relied upon to provide accurate details about your particular property or tenant situations. Please consult an attorney for legal advice.
Section 1804. - EXEMPTIONS. (copied from the Pasadena city website on 12/16/2023)
(a) Fully Exempt (Exempt from Both Rent Stabilization and Just Cause for Eviction). The following Rental Units are exempt from all provisions of this Article:
(1) Units in hotels, motels, inns, tourist homes, lodging and rooming houses and boarding houses, including hotels, lodging houses, rooming houses, and boarding houses as defined in Pasadena Municipal Code Section 14.12.030, provided that at such time as an accommodation has been occupied as the primary residence of one or more of the same tenants for any period more than thirty (30) days such accommodation shall become a Covered Rental Unit. The computation of the thirty (30) days shall include days in which the Tenant was required to:
(A)Move into a different guestroom or efficiency unit before the expiration of thirty (30) days occupancy; or
(B) Check out and re-register before the expiration of thirty (30) days occupancy if a purpose was to avoid application of this Article. Evidence that an occupant was required to check out and re-register shall create a rebuttable presumption, which shall affect solely the burden of producing evidence, that the housing accommodation is a Covered Rental Unit.
(2) Rental Units in any hospital, convent, monastery, extended medical care facility, asylum, non-profit home for the aged; dormitory owned and operated by an accredited institution of higher education, or Rental Units in a facility that has the primary purpose of operating a treatment or recovery program, where such Rental Units are provided incident to a client's participation in the treatment or recovery program and where the client has been informed in writing of the temporary or transitional nature of the housing at the inception of his or her participation in the program;
(3) Rental Units owned or operated or managed by a not-for-profit organization pursuant to a tax credit program;
(4) Rental Units which a government unit, agency or authority owns, operates, or manages, or in which government-subsidized Tenants reside, if applicable federal or state law or administrative regulation specifically exempt such units from municipal rent control; and
(5) Rental Units additionally exempted pursuant to Section 1805 (Additional Homeowner Protections).
(b) Partially Exempt (Just Cause for Eviction Applies). The following Rental Units are exempt from Sections 1807, 1808, and 1809 of this Article (regarding Stabilization of Rents) and from Sections 1813 and 1814 (regarding Petitions for Individual Rent Adjustment), but are not exempt from Section 1806 (Just Cause for Eviction Protections):
(1) To the extent required by state law, Rental Units exempt from rent control pursuant to the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act (California Civil Code Section 1954.52. et seq.). Where rent restrictions are permitted by state law, the Rental Board may issue rules and regulations to govern the restrictions on Rental Units identified in this paragraph;
(2) Rental Units governed by Pasadena City Code Chapter 17.42, Section 17.42.040 (Inclusionary Housing Requirements) and Chapter 17.43 (Density Bonus, Waivers and Incentives) to the extent permissible by law.
(Sec. 1804 added by vote of the people 11-8-2022 .)
Section 1805. - ADDITIONAL HOMEOWNER PROTECTIONS.
In addition to the Rental Units exempted in Section 1804(a) of this Article (Fully Exempt), the following Rental Units are also fully exempt from this Article:
(a) A homeowner who is the primary resident of a Single-Family Home may create a temporary tenancy. The temporary Tenant must be provided, in writing at the inception of the tenancy, the length of the tenancy, to last no longer than twelve (12) months, and a statement that the tenancy may be terminated and relocation shall not be provided. A homeowner may not create such temporary tenancies for more than a total of twelve (12) months in any thirty-six (36) month period.
(b) A Tenancy where the Tenant shares a bathroom or kitchen with the homeowner shall be exempt from this Article if the home is the Primary Residence of the homeowner.(Sec. 1805 added by vote of the people 11-8-2022 .)
