Pasadena’s Rent Control Board to Issue First Rate Cap

Pasadena’s new rent control board is set to take its first significant action.

At its June 29 meeting, the Pasadena Rental Housing Board is expected to set a rent increase limit for the first time — a 2.75 percent cap for increases during the 12-month period running from Oct.1 through September 2024. Pasadena Star News first reported the story.

The Rental Housing Board was established in December 2022, just after the city’s voters approved Measure H, the Pasadena Charter Amendment Initiative Petition Measure Imposing Rent Control.

Measure H ranks as Pasadena’s first rent control initiative. During the 2022 election, Measure H made waves because its rules were likely to apply to 25,000 Pasadena apartments.

Measure H calculates the rent cap, known as the Annual General Adjustment, by taking 75 percent of the increase in the Los Angeles area Consumer Price Index for the 12-month period ending March of the year that the cap is set.

Measure H also requires that no landlord will charge an amount that exceeds a base rent plus rent increases given a green light by the rent control board. The base rent is set at apartment prices from May 17, 2021. Landlords will be able set new rents when a new tenant moves in.

Measure H states that initial rents for new tenants will be regulated by state law, not municipal law. However, increases to a new tenant’s rents are subject to regulation by Measure H.

The independent rental board also will run a registry of rent-controlled apartments in Pasadena. Measure H also will implement just cause eviction protections and offers relocation assistance mandates.

– Andrew Asch