Rental Housing Board to Weigh Whether to Create Penalty Fees for Charter Violations

The Pasadena Rental Housing Board is scheduled to hold a second study session Oct. 1 on whether to create a schedule of penalty fees for landlords who violate the city’s tenant-protection charter, a step that could reshape how Pasadena enforces its rent stabilization rules.

The study session, prepared by the Rent Stabilization Department, is information only, and the board will be asked to receive the report and decide whether to give direction to staff. No fees will be adopted at the meeting.

Under the charter, the board holds independent authority over any fine schedule, meaning a future decision on penalties would rest with the board itself rather than with the City Council.

At issue is Section 1817(g) of Article XVIII, the Pasadena Fair and Equitable Housing Charter approved by voters in November 2022, which allows the board to establish and periodically modify a schedule of fines for charter violations, provided the amounts are reasonable and consistent with applicable law.

The study focuses on violations other than the failure to register rental units, which is handled separately.

Staff will present findings suggesting that penalty fees are rarely used elsewhere. A review of 18 California jurisdictions with rent stabilization ordinances found that 11 have no penalty fee structure at all, and several that technically authorize citations rarely use them. Among those that do impose fees, staff reported ranges such as $250 to $1,000 in Alameda for repeat offenses, $100 to $500 in Culver City, and up to $500 in Santa Monica for landlords who willfully retain excess rent.

A central complication staff will highlight is the state’s Petris Act, found in Civil Code sections 1947.7 and 1947.8, which bars penalties against landlords who are in substantial compliance and who cure deficiencies after receiving notice. Staff will note that when the board first discussed the topic June 18, members stressed the importance of giving landlords proper notice and a chance to fix problems before any penalty is imposed, and asked for more information on how other jurisdictions structure their systems.

The report outlines possible violation categories the board could consider, including improper eviction notices, illegal rent increases, harassment or retaliation, failure to maintain habitability, and failure to pay relocation fees. For several of these, staff note that remedies already exist under the charter or through the city’s code compliance and petition processes. Staff also caution that building out an expansive citation program would be labor-intensive and could require adding three to five full time employees to the department.

Because the item is for information only, there is no fiscal impact tied to the study session itself. Staff recommend that the board first evaluate whether establishing a penalty structure is advisable before moving forward, and, if it proceeds, that it set clear categories, severity levels, escalations for repeat offenses and mitigating factors. The board is also being asked to discuss whether violations should run through a petition process, whether hearings should be conducted by a hearing officer and whether appeals should be heard by the board.

The Pasadena Rental Housing Board is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1, in the Council Chamber, Pasadena City Hall, 100 North Garfield Avenue, Room S249, in Pasadena. For more information call (626) 744-7311 or visit https://www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/agendas/.