Culver City's Rent Control Goes Into Effect On Oct. 30

CULVER CITY, CA — Culver City Council's rent control and tenant protection ordinances will go into effect starting on Oct. 30.

"Under the new Rent Control Ordinance, the city caps annual rent increases at an amount tied to the Consumer Price Index," officials said.

Several local families have shared their experiences during the pandemic, and why the interim rent control has mattered when rent control protections were in place temporarily.

Hanna, James, Lolo and Ocean in Culver City shared their story with Protect Culver City Renters on Facebook about why they were pushing for more tenant protections in the city, especially amid the pandemic.

"We knew that our rent wouldn't go up," Hanna said. "We also felt pretty confident that our new landlord couldn't kick us out."

The maximum allowable increase on rents that take effect during any given month are released monthly, approximately six weeks in advance of the first of each month. The maximum permissible annual rent increase is 2.25% for residential rent increases effective between Oct. 30, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2020.

Each month, on the next business day after the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes the CPI, the Housing Division will publish on its Rent Control/Tenant Protections webpage the maximum permissible rent increase for rent increases that are effective in the month that is approximately six weeks after the published increase. For example, on November 13, 2020, the City will publish the rent cap for increases effective January 1 - 31, 2021, and on December 11, 2020, the City will publish the rent cap for increases effective February 1 - 28, 2021.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a schedule in advance of the CPI publishing dates for the upcoming year.

"The city will publish on its webpage additional rent cap release dates once the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the CPI publishing schedule for 2021," officials said.

Learn more about how the City calculates the maximum permissible annual rent increase by reading "Guideline/Rule No. 2020-RC01 (Annual Permissible Rent Increases)".
Here are some guidelines to the new rent cap:

• Landlords may not impose more than one Rent increase for a Covered Rental Unit in any twelve-month (12-month) period.
• The maximum permissible annual rent increase is based on the average annual change in the consumer price index (“CPI change”).
• If CPI change is less than 2%, maximum allowable annual rent increase is 2%.
• If CPI change is more than 5%, maximum allowable annual rent increase is 5%.
• A Landlord may impose a Rent increase that takes effect sooner than twelve (12) months following the date of the latest permitted Rent increase under the Interim Rent Control Ordinance, but the prior increase under Interim Rent Control Ordinance in combination with a rent increase under permanent ordinance may not exceed the maximum allowable annual rent increase under the permanent ordinance.

More information on rent control and tenant protections in Culver City is available online.
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