Pasadena Board Weighs Daily Payments, Written Notice for Tenants Displaced by Repairs

Pasadena renters temporarily forced out during repairs could receive a fixed daily payment, and affected tenants a written notice of the work, under recommendations the Pasadena Rental Housing Board takes up Thursday.

The city’s Rent Stabilization Department recommended both: a standardized notice to affected tenants and a standard per diem for tenants displaced fewer than 30 days when repairs render a unit uninhabitable and the landlord cannot provide alternative housing. Staff asked whether proposed regulatory language should return later.

City Charter Section 1806(a)(6)(A) directs the Board to adopt repair regulations ensuring the least disruption to tenants. Refusing reasonable access for repairs after proper notice is just cause for eviction, but only if the landlord shows written notice was given and the work properly scheduled. Documented health or safety emergencies and state-law-required work are exempt.

Pasadena is unique among jurisdictions reviewed because the Charter already entitles tenants displaced more than 30 days by substantial and necessary repairs to full relocation payment and return at the same rent, staff reported. New rules would cover only shorter displacements.

Of four cities staff reviewed at the Board’s May 21 request — Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Santa Monica — only two set per diem rates. West Hollywood pays $191 daily for lodging, $68 for meals, $2 for laundry, $51 for a cat and $74 for a dog. Santa Monica pays $405, $43, $2, $40 and $73. A U.S. General Services Administration search for Pasadena returned $191 lodging and $86 meals and incidental expenses.

Staff recommended the notice describe the scope of work, list when laundry, parking, elevators, water or power would be unavailable, confirm the work will not end the tenancy, explain the landlord’s relocation or per diem obligation, give contacts for the owner, property manager and project manager, and state construction hours allowed under Pasadena Municipal Code Section 9.36.070.

Staff offered three options: notice alone, notice plus per diem, or an alternative. Staff also recommended a common sense California Environmental Quality Act exemption and reported no fiscal impact. Department Executive Director Helen Morales submitted the report, prepared by Stanko Zovko.

The Board meets at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Council Chamber, Pasadena City Hall, 100 N. Garfield Ave., Room S249. Call (626) 744-7999 or visit https://www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/pasadena-rental-housing-board/.