Tenants in Pasadena whose landlords have failed to fix health and safety problems in their rental units can petition the city for a rent reduction — and the Rent Stabilization Department will walk residents through that process at a free workshop next Tuesday.
The April 14 session is focused on a provision of the city’s charter that ties habitability directly to rent. Under Article XVIII, which Pasadena voters approved as Measure H in November 2022, tenants may file a petition for a downward adjustment of rent when a landlord fails to maintain a unit in livable condition, reduces or removes housing services, or charges rent above the legal limit. The same charter provision bars landlords from raising rent while habitability violations remain unresolved, according to the city’s Rent Stabilization Department.
The workshop will cover how to identify qualifying violations — the city cites inadequate weatherproofing, pest infestations, and lack of hot water as examples — what documentation tenants need to gather, and how unresolved repair issues move through the department’s petition and hearing process, according to a press release issued by the City of Pasadena on April 8.
The session is part of the department’s monthly workshop series, now in its second year. The series began in 2025, when the department launched the workshops alongside its broader rollout of petition and hearing procedures under the charter. In March, the department released its first annual report documenting work since the RSD’s founding in December 2023.
That report showed the department handled more than 3,700 housing counselor inquiries and fielded over 13,700 phone calls during fiscal year 2024-25, according to the city. The department also recorded 5,478 property registrations covering 21,914 rental units, an 87% compliance rate during the first nine months of the 2025 rental registration cycle.
Helen Morales, Director of the Rent Stabilization Department, said in the annual report that the department has prioritized fairness and transparency for both tenants and landlords.
“From the very beginning, our focus has been on serving tenants and landlords with fairness and transparency,” Morales said, according to the city’s announcement of the report.
The workshop is free and open to both tenants and landlords. It will be held at the Rent Stabilization Department office, 199 S. Los Robles Ave., 1st Floor Conference Room, beginning at 6 p.m. Residents may also participate via Zoom at Bit.ly/MonthlyRSDWorkshops. For more information, contact the department at RentStabilization@CityofPasadena.net or call (626) 744-7999.
The RSD’s petition forms for downward rent adjustment are available on the department’s website. A hearing officer reviews each case and issues a written decision within 60 days after the hearing record closes, according to the city.
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