General Election 2026

Section 1801(o) shall be added to Article XVIII of the City Charter as follows: 

1801 Definitions. The following words or phrases as used in this Article shall have the following meanings: . . . 

(o) Affordable housing deed restriction. A deed restriction, regulatory restriction contained in an agreement with a government agency, or other recorded document restricting a rental housing unit for use and occupancy as affordable housing for persons and families of extremely low, very low, low, or moderate income, or an agreement that provides housing subsidies for affordable housing for persons and families for extremely low, very low, low, or moderate income, as defined in this code or comparable state or federal statutes. 

Section 1803(e) of Article XVIII of the City Charter shall be amended to read as follows: 

1803 Permanent Rent Control Board. 

(e) Term of Office. Commissioners shall be elected to serve terms of four (4) years, beginning on the first Tuesday following their election. No person shall serve more than three terms as a Commissioner, whether consecutive or not. For purposes of this section, a partial term of more than two years shall count as one term. These term limits shall apply to appointed terms as well as elected terms., except that of the first five (5) Commissioners elected in accordance with Section 1803(d), the two (2) Commissioners receiving the most votes shall serve until April 15, 1985 and the remaining three (3)  Commissioners shall serve until April 18, 1983. Commissioners shall serve a maximum of two full terms 

Section 1803(n) of Article XVIII of the City Charter shall be amended to read as follows: 

1803 Permanent Rent Control Board. 

(n) Financing of Board Operations. The Board shall finance its reasonable and necessary expenses through annual registration fees and other available funding sources, as provided in this subsection. 

(1) Registration Fee Authority. The Board may charge landlords an annual registration fee for each controlled rental unit. The amount of the registration fee shall be determined by the Board. 

(2) Maximum Allowable Fee. The registration fee established by the Board shall not exceed the maximum annual registration fee allowable under this subsection, initially set at two hundred eighty-eight dollars ($288) per controlled rental unit. The maximum annual registration fee allowable under this subsection establishes a limit and does not itself establish the amount of the fee to be charged. 

(3) Tenant Pass-Through. Up to fifty percent (50%) of the registration fee may be passed through from landlords to tenants, subject to conditions and procedures established by the Board. 

(4) Additional Funding Sources. The Board may also request and receive funding, when necessary, from any available source for its reasonable and necessary expenses. 

(5) Adjustment of Maximum Allowable Fee. Beginning with the 2028 calendar year, the maximum annual registration fee allowable under this subsection shall be adjusted annually to reflect the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Los Angeles region, as published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the preceding calendar year. No adjustment shall result in a decrease to the maximum annual registration fee allowable under this subsection or exceed five percent (5%) in any single year. 

(6) Notice of Adjustment. The Board shall announce any adjustment to the maximum annual registration fee allowable under this subsection on or before March 15 of each year in which an adjustment is made. 

(7) Board Discretion. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require the Board to charge the maximum annual registration fee allowable under this subsection in any year. 

Financing. The Board shall finance its reasonable and necessary expenses by charging landlords annual registration fees in amounts deemed reasonable by the Board with a maximum annual registration fee of up to two hundred eighty-eight dollars ($288.00) per controlled unit. Fifty (50) percent of the amount of the registration fees may be passed through from landlords to tenants, and the Board may establish applicable conditions and procedures governing the pass through. The Board is also empowered to request and receive funding when and if necessary from any available source for its reasonable and necessary expenses.

Section 1805(d)(12) of Article XVIII of the City Charter shall be amended to read as follows: 

1805 Individual and general adjustment of ceilings on allowable rents. 

(d) Hearing Procedure. The Board shall enact rules and regulations governing hearings and appeals of individual adjustment of ceilings on allowable rents which shall include the following: . ..

(12) Time for Decision. The rules and regulations adopted by the Board shall provide for final action on any individual rent adjustment petition within one hundred and twenty (120) days, following the date of filing of the individual rent adjustment petition, allowing for extensions of the timeline for good cause.

Section 1806(a)(11) and 1806(a)(12) shall be added to Article XVIII of the City Charter as follows: 

1806 Eviction. 

(a) No landlord shall take action to terminate any tenancy including, but not limited, to making a demand for possession of a rental unit, threatening to terminate a tenancy, serving any notice to quit or other eviction notice or bringing any action to recover possession or be granted recovery of possession of a controlled rental unit except on one of the following grounds: … 

(11) The tenant does not qualify for the rental unit under the terms of an applicable affordable housing deed restriction, or is causing a violation of the affordable housing deed restriction, and the landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession of 41 the rental unit in order to comply with the applicable affordable housing deed restriction, regulations, or guidelines, provided the landlord complies with all applicable regulations and guidelines. 

(12) The tenant of a rental unit subject to an affordable housing deed restriction has failed or refused to provide proof of income or other qualification for the rental unit, after written notice requesting such proof, where an applicable affordable housing deed restriction or applicable law, regulations, or guidelines require the tenant to provide proof of income or other qualification in order to reside in the unit. 

Section 1806(b) of Article XVIII of the City Charter shall be amended to read as follows: 

1806 Eviction. 

(b) Any written notice as described in Subsections (a)(2), (3), or (6), or (12) shall be served by the landlord a reasonable period prior to serving a notice to terminate tenancy and shall inform the tenant that a failure to cure may result in the initiation of eviction proceedings. The Board may enact regulations regarding reasonable notice. 

Section 1822 shall be added to Article XVIII of the City Charter as follows: 

1822 Tenant Protection Act Finding. 

Whereas this Article limits the reasons for termination of a residential tenancy consistent with the provisions of California Civil Code section 1946.2; further limits the reasons for termination of a residential tenancy to a greater degree than California Civil Code section 1946.2; provides (in conjunction with implementing provisions of the Santa Monica Municipal Code) for higher relocation assistance amounts than California Civil Code 42 section 1946.2; and provides additional tenant protections not prohibited by any other provision of law; this Article is found to be more protective than the provisions of California Civil Code section 1946.2, such that any rental unit subject to this Article is not subject to California Civil Code section 1946.2.

Section 2302(h) shall be added to Article XXIII of the City Charter as follows: 

2302 Definitions. 

The following words or phrases as used in this Article shall have the following meanings: . . .  

(h) Affordable housing deed restriction. A deed restriction, regulatory restriction contained in an agreement with a government agency, or other recorded document restricting a rental housing unit for use and occupancy as affordable housing for persons and families of extremely low, very low, low, or moderate income, or an agreement that provides housing subsidies for affordable housing for persons and families for extremely low, very low, low, or moderate income, as defined in this code or comparable state or federal statutes.

Section 2304(a)(10) and 2304(a)(11) shall be added to Article XXIII of the City Charter as follows: 

2304 Just cause for evictions—Notices to cease. 

(a) No landlord shall take action to terminate any tenancy in a noncontrolled rental unit including, but not limited, to making a demand for possession of a rental unit, threatening to terminate a tenancy, serving any notice to quit or other eviction notice or bringing any 43 action to recover possession or be granted recovery of possession of a controlled rental unit except on one of the following grounds: …

(10) The tenant does not qualify for the rental unit under the terms of an applicable affordable housing deed restriction, or is causing a violation of the affordable housing deed restriction, and the landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession of the rental unit in order to comply with the applicable affordable housing deed restriction, regulations, or guidelines, provided the landlord complies with all applicable regulations and guidelines. 

(11) The tenant of a rental unit subject to an affordable housing deed restriction has failed or refused to provide proof of income or other qualification for the rental unit, after written notice requesting such proof, where an applicable affordable housing deed restriction or applicable law, regulations, or guidelines require the tenant to provide proof of income or other qualification in order to reside in the unit.  

Section 2304(b) of Article XXIII of the City Charter shall be amended to read as follows: 

2304 Just cause for evictions—Notices to cease. 

(b) Any written notice as described in Subsections (a)(2), (3), or (6), or (11) shall be served by the landlord a reasonable period prior to serving a notice to terminate tenancy and shall inform the tenant that a failure to cure may result in the initiation of eviction proceedings. 

Section 2310 shall be added to Article XXIII of the City Charter as follows: 

2310 Tenant Protection Act Finding. 

Whereas this Article limits the reasons for termination of a residential tenancy consistent with the provisions of California Civil Code section 1946.2; further limits the reasons for termination of a residential tenancy to a greater degree than California Civil Code section 1946.2; provides (in conjunction with implementing provisions of the Santa Monica Municipal Code) for higher relocation assistance amounts than California Civil Code section 1946.2; and provides additional tenant protections not prohibited by any other provision of law; this Article is found to be more protective than the provisions of California Civil Code section 1946.2, such that any rental unit subject to this Article is not subject to California Civil Code section 1946.2. 

PRESERVE SANTA MONICA’S STRONG RENTER PROTECTIONS WITH THESE GOOD GOVERNMENT UPDATES! 

This proposal sounds favorable to tenants, but it is nothing of the sort. Buried in this proposal, the city council inserted an amendment to the just cause eviction rules to make it easier for DEVELOPERS to evict tenants from affordable housing.