By Stephen Witt, Los Angeles County Politics (LACP)
An advocacy group representing building owners across Greater Los Angeles is blasting the Board of Supervisors for pushing a motion they say will lead to “soft rent control” for brick-and-mortar stores.
The motion, expected to be voted on at tomorrow’s regular Board of Supervisors meeting, would direct the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs to design a Commercial Rental Property License program for landlords in the county’s unincorporated areas.
The program would require landlords to disclose rent amounts, vacancy status, lease terms and any history of tenant harassment or code violations, verified annually.
A landlord’s license could be suspended after a court finds harassment under the county’s existing anti-harassment ordinance, during which they’d be barred from raising rent or filing no-fault evictions.
Additionally, the motion directs staff to develop relocation-assistance requirements for tenants displaced by code violations or redevelopment, and creates an opt-in “Special Status” license offering tax incentives to landlords who cap rent increases at 3% annually for a decade.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell (D-Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena, Compton, Carson), who is proposing the motion along with Board Chair Hilda L. Solis (D-Downtown LA, East LA, Pico-Union, Boyle Heights, El Monte, West Covina, Baldwin Park, Pomona), said it stems from local South LA business owner A’Kia Benbo, who built her HoneyQween Juice Bar from a street-vending operation in 2016 into a storefront by 2021, before what Mitchell’s office described as landlord harassment and predatory practices forced her out.
“What started as an exciting opportunity to bring jobs and healthy options to South LA quickly turned into issues with landlord harassment and predatory practices that ultimately forced A’Kia out of her first storefront. A’Kia is one of many business owners who have faced similar circumstances of being displaced,” said Mitchell in her weekly Unincorporated Communities E-Newsletter.
But upon hearing of the motion, the Building Owners and Managers Association of Greater Los Angeles (BOMA) came out against the proposal on its website Friday, saying the Supervisors are considering a new Commercial Tenant Protections Motion that could function as a form of “soft rent control” for commercial properties.
“As written, the proposal could create new licensing and reporting requirements, restrict rent increases in certain circumstances, require relocation payments, and add hurdles for redevelopment projects,” BOMA said in the statement on its website.
The group said it submitted a formal opposition letter to county offices alongside allied groups including NAIOP SoCal, BizFed and the California Business Properties Association, and is urging the county to complete its economic and legal impact studies before adopting any ordinance.
BOMA also wants any final program brought back to the board for a separate vote rather than implemented administratively, according to the statement.
