Rental Board Told to Create Staffing Plan, Establish Fees to Enforce Rent Control Charter Amendment

A consulting firm representative told the Pasadena Rental Housing Board Wednesday it will need to establish rent registration fees and hire additional staff to administer and enforce Measure H, the rent control charter amendment approved by Pasadena voters last year. 

Speaking for BHYV Consulting, Chanée Franklin Minor delivered an overview on how the Board should operate, suggesting an ‘active enforcement’ approach. This approach includes public information and outreach, dispute resolution, and rent registration. 

Franklin Minor advised the Board to prioritize the creation of a staffing model first.

According to Franklin Minor, there are two models used by similar government bodies to approach regulation of the property owner-tenant relationship: passive enforcement, which enforces regulations only in response to complaints, and active enforcement approach, which “uses extensive outreach to inform tenants and owners about their rights and obligations under the law and program regulations, maintains full and accurate records through reporting requirements for initial rents and eviction proceedings, provides mediation and dispute resolution services, and actively enforces the law and program regulations when it finds violations.”

As per Franklin Minor, Pasadena has an active model because the charter amendment requires rent registration. 

Rent registration allows a jurisdiction to compile key data on rental units into a database that may be used as an enforcement tool for rent stabilization and just cause for eviction ordinances.

Aside from rent registration, Franklin Minor said the active enforcement model has two other components: public information and outreach, and dispute resolution. 

“Equally as important as the other two to have active real enforcement of your law is a very strong public information and outreach capabilities,” said Franklin Minor. “The great goal to really enforce the law that residents have adopted is creating that public information outreach unit of staff.” 

Franklin Minor said the Board should maintain hearing officers and staff that conduct mediations so Board Members “don’t have to go to hearings all the time.” 

According to Franklin Minor, most local governments charge a fee to cover the cost of the database and the staffing. 

She advised the Board to focus on lining up staff first.

“You can’t take up the fee because the fee is to cover your budget. You can’t have your budget without knowing who you are going to hire and how much they are going to cost.” 

“So the first thing you have to do is create your staffing model.”

While the Board is establishing structure and awaiting retention of staff, which may take a year, according to Franklin Minor, Board Members should consider retaining a public information team that will ensure “people are connected with their rights,” and that complaints and concerns are responded to.

The Board did not take any action on the presentation of BHYV Consulting, which was an information-only item. PRHB Chair Ryan Bell said the suggestions will be tackled further in upcoming meetings. 

“We have a lot of work to do and we have to do it at a certain pace and we’re going to get there,” Bell said. 

In the same meeting, the Board also unanimously approved the brand identity of PRHB presented by Allegra Consulting.