First-Ever Annual Report Released by City’s Rent Stabilization Department

The city’s Rent Stabilization Department has registered more than 21,900 rental units across 5,478 properties in its first full cycle of operation, according to the department’s inaugural annual report released Wednesday.

The department, which did not exist before the Pasadena City Council created it in December 2023, published the report covering its work from inception through the end of Fiscal Year 2025. It arrives in a city where nearly six in 10 households are renters — and on the same day a landlord advocacy group filed a proposed charter amendment seeking to restructure the board that oversees the department, according to a report published by Pasadena Today.

“Releasing our first Annual Report is a proud moment for our department and for the City of Pasadena,” said Helen Morales, director of the Rent Stabilization Department, in a city press release. “From the very beginning, our focus has been on serving tenants and landlords with fairness and transparency.”

The report details the department’s efforts to implement the Pasadena Fair and Equitable Housing Charter Amendment, known as Article XVIII, which Pasadena voters approved as Measure H in November 2022 with 53.8% of the vote. The amendment established rent stabilization and expanded tenant protections for covered units citywide. It took effect on December 22, 2022.

The Pasadena Rental Housing Board, the 11-member panel charged with overseeing the charter amendment, held its inaugural meeting in May 2023. The department itself was created seven months later, and Morales was appointed to lead it in June 2024 after a nationwide search, according to a city press release. She started July 1, 2024.

During the FY 2024-25 reporting period, the department achieved an 87% compliance rate during the first nine months of the 2025 rental registration cycle, the report states. Staff conducted 43 events and trainings attended by more than 5,500 people, handled more than 13,700 phone calls and fielded over 3,700 housing counselor inquiries, according to the press release.

The department also launched the Rental Registry database to collect information on more than 27,000 covered rental units, built out a 7,500-square-foot office with 24 workstations, created 42 fillable forms for charter implementation, and launched an eviction database to track evictions by City Council district, according to the city’s budget documents.

The report includes sections on the Pasadena Rental Housing Board’s role in oversight, rulemaking and hearings; a department snapshot; summaries of the Outreach, Enforcement, Administration & Policy, Hearings and Rental Registry divisions; and community engagement efforts, according to the press release.

The department’s operations are fully funded through the Rental Housing Fee paid by landlords, which is currently $238 per unit annually. The department’s adopted budget grew from approximately $4.7 million in FY 2025 to $5.4 million in FY 2026, with staffing increasing from 17 to 21 full-time positions, according to city budget records.

The annual report is available on the Rent Stabilization Department’s website at cityofpasadena.net/rent-stabilization. Residents can contact the department at (626) 744-7999 or RentStabilization@CityofPasadena.net.

“This report reflects the foundational work that has taken place to establish programs, serve residents, and implement Pasadena’s voter-approved rent stabilization measure,” Morales said in the press release.