The Burbank City Council on June 25 approved a survey and outreach plan to gauge city residents’ support of a potential rent cap.
As has become usual, the discussion was preempted by hours of public comment from tenants and landlords over the merits of a rent cap in Burbank, which proponents hope will result in a mandated formula — somewhere between 2% and 4% — to limit rent increases. The Burbank Tenants Union, or BTU, has drafted a model rent stabilization ordinance that includes a process for landlords and tenants to appeal rent changes.
“Addressing unaffordable rent increases must be done as soon as possible,” said Alissandra Valdez, a BTU member, asking the council to ensure the survey seeks responses from demographics that mirror Burbank’s landlord-tenant ratio. “Since Burbank renters make up almost 60% of the city’s population, the results of this survey should accurately reflect that.”
Landlords and representatives from organizations like the Burbank Association of Realtors and the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles attended to oppose any such measure, saying that capping rents would make their businesses unsustainable, and would cause mom-and-pop landlords to pull their homes from the rental market.
“This measure not only restricts landlords’ ability to pass on increased operational costs but also imposes substantial financial burdens on the city through the establishment of a rental board,” resident David Donahue told the Leader. “Additionally, such a cap could incentivize housing providers to sell their properties to larger corporations, leading to mass evictions and higher rents.”
The city contracted Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates, also called FM3, to conduct the community survey. It will specifically gauge what the community feels is an appropriate number for a rent cap.
FM3 will contact community members “through email, texting, and phone calls, available in English, Spanish, and Armenian,” according to the city. The survey will include only Burbank residents and have subcategories for tenants and landlords.
The city also plans to hold five interactive community outreach meetings to hear from residents, tenants and landlords on potential changes to rent protections. The survey and engagement meetings will be concluded over the next 90 days, and the next step may involve the council reviewing a rent stabilization ordinance for potential approval.
“Each meeting will provide the same information to ensure Burbank residents have multiple opportunities to share their feedback and to learn more about rent protection in the city,” according to a city report.
A report on the results of the community engagement will be given in October and the council hopes to put the rent cap issue to bed before the end of the year.
“I do want to try to get it done before the end of the year so we can wrap up the topic and not have to start over from scratch … because we [will] have new councilmembers,” said Councilwoman Tamala Takahashi, pointing out that the rent stabilization discussion could be delayed once councilmembers elected in November take the dais.
The total cost to taxpayers to pay contractors to conduct the survey and community meetings is $210,755. The engagement proposal was passed 4-0 with Mayor Nick Schultz absent from the meeting.
