Why it matters: Rent increases will be limited for covered units to 60% of the annual change in the consumer price index -- a measure of how much costs in general are rising throughout the economy -- with a ceiling of 3%.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved lower annual rent increases for many tenants in unincorporated areas on Wednesday.
Beginning next year, rent increases will be limited for units already under rent control to 60% of the annual change in the consumer price index -- a measure of how much costs in general are rising throughout the economy -- with a ceiling of 3%.
But it allows "small property landlords," which are those with no more than 10 units (including outside of L.A. County), to increase rent up to 4%.
Landlords of luxury units, which are defined as two bedrooms or less that rented for at least $4,000 a month back in Sept. 2018, can bump up rent to 5%.
Annual increases of up to 4% are currently allowed in rent-controlled housing in unincorporated areas through the end of the year. The board narrowly voted for a proposal to lower the hikes to 3% or less this summer, but it needed to come back for final approval.
The vote was 4 to 1, with Supervisor Kathryn Barger in opposition.
The California Apartment Association wrote in a letter to the board that it's strongly against the change.
"This provision ... is disconnected from the actual economic realities that housing providers face and imposes unsustainable financial pressures on property owners," wrote Fred Sutton, the association's spokesperson, in a letter to the board. "This price control threatens to force housing providers to defer essential repairs, ultimately reducing the quality and availability of rental housing."