Proposed Measure to Overhaul Pasadena Rent Control Law Could Force Sunset of Measure H

Property owners and landlords Wednesday turned in thousands of signatures in an effort to place a measure on the March 2028 ballot that could repeal and replace Measure H, the city’s rent control law.

“The proposed Measure, the Pasadena Fair Housing Charter Amendment, would not require creation of a rental registry, and establishes a Jan. 1, 2039 sunset date, after which Article XVIII would become inoperative unless extended by voters,” wrote City Attorney Michele Beal Bagneris in a summary of the required measure.

Measure H amended the City Charter by adding Article XVIII, which established the city’s rent stabilization and just-cause eviction law.

Article XVIII also limited annual rent increases for covered units to 75% of the regional Consumer Price Index and established relocation-assistance requirements for certain tenants displaced through no fault of their own.

The charter amendment also created an independent Pasadena Rental Housing Board to administer and enforce the law. It authorized the board to maintain a rental registry, collect landlord fees, adopt regulations and hear petitions from landlords seeking a fair return and tenants seeking rent reductions because of unlawful rents, reduced services or uncorrected housing problems.

The amendment also established enforcement procedures and legal remedies for violations.

“We’re doing this because the Rent Board and its fellow extremists refused to talk about making Measure H better in 2024 when Measure PR was written,” said landlord and organizer Simon Gibbons. “We are giving voters a say on a balanced Rent Board structure, restoring City oversight of activities and costs, and promoting flexibility instead of rigidity.”

The submission by Pasadena Housing Providers marks the next step in a campaign to substantially restructure the rent stabilization and eviction protections approved by Pasadena voters in November 2022.

Supporters say the proposal would create a more balanced rent board with equal representation for tenants and landlords and a tie-breaking member who is neither, while bringing rental housing policy and departmental spending under normal City Council and city manager oversight.

It would merge the Rent Stabilization Department into the Housing Department, cap landlord fees at roughly half their current level and limit future fee increases to the same rate as allowable rent increases.

The proposal would also reduce the amount of detailed and inflexible language embedded in the City Charter, cutting the law to about half the length of Measure H and providing greater flexibility to adopt regulations as Pasadena’s economic and demographic conditions change. Finally, it would establish a sunset date, allowing voters to review the system and decide whether it should continue.

The signatures must be reviewed and verified before the proposed charter amendment can qualify for the ballot. If election officials determine that organizers collected enough valid signatures, Pasadena voters would decide whether to replace Measure H with a new system regulating rents and evictions.

In total, 13,700 valid signatures from Pasadena voters are needed to qualify the petition and submit the Charter amendment to a vote in the city.

Supporters say more than 20,000 signatures were turned in.

The proposed measure would also repeal the ordinance that created Pasadena’s independent Rent Stabilization Department.

In 2038, Article XVIII would sunset unless voters extend it.

It is not known if the city would be forced to lay off employees in that department if the voters approve the measure.

Under the proposal, administration of the city’s rent control program would move to the Pasadena Housing Department and become subject to annual City Council audits.

“The purpose of this Charter Amendment is to promote neighborhood and community stability, stable housing, and affordability for renters in Pasadena by regulating excessive rent increases and arbitrary evictions and promote the creation of additional, new, and better housing in the City, while ensuring Landlords a fair return on their investment and guaranteeing fair protections for renters, homeowners, landlords, and businesses,” the proposed Charter amendment reads.

One of the most significant changes would involve the composition of the Pasadena Rental Housing Board, which currently operates independently of the City Council, city manager and city attorney.

Measure H established an 11-member board consisting of seven tenants, four at-large members who may be tenants or landlords, and two alternates.

The proposed measure would replace the board with a Pasadena Residential Rent Board containing equal numbers of tenants and landlords and one at-large member who is neither a tenant nor a landlord.

The mayor would nominate the at-large member. Tenant representatives would be required to live in Pasadena, but landlord representatives would not. The City Council would establish board member compensation and other regulations governing the panel.

Despite the proposed restructuring, the measure would retain Measure H’s central limit on annual rent increases for covered units. The allowable annual general adjustment would remain tied to 75% of the Consumer Price Index for the Los Angeles area, with no increase permitted during deflationary years.

The adjustment would take effect Oct. 1 each year and would have to be announced within 60 days after the release of the relevant inflation report.

The measure would also preserve just-cause eviction protections for covered rental units while rewriting the provisions governing their implementation.

Landlords could continue petitioning for rent increases when existing rents do not provide a fair return. The proposal would add provisions allowing capital expenditures and other eligible costs to be passed through proportionately to tenants. Tenants could seek rent reductions under specified conditions.

Disputes would proceed through mediation and hearing officer review, with appeals decided by the reconstituted rent board.

Measure H was approved after a campaign driven largely by tenants and housing advocates concerned about rising rents, displacement and eviction protections.

“We’ll have to wait and see if they have enough valid signatures, but given that the Pasadena Housing Providers have been running a campaign of lies and deception, it’s not surprising that they got a lot of signatures,” said Measure H organizer Ryan Bell. “If you say to people, ‘Sign here for rent control,’ you can get thousands of people to sign. If they were honest and said, this is to repeal rent control, eliminate tenant anti-harassment protections, eliminate the Rent Stabilization Department and the Rental Registry, which the city has taken three years and tens of thousands of dollars to build, then I’m not so sure. If they do qualify for the ballot, rest assured the community will run a campaign to tell voters the truth.”