Culver City approved a temporary rent control measure early Tuesday morning, joining a handful of other Southern California cities that have boosted tenant protections as the state grapples with an affordability crisis.
In a 4 to 1 vote that followed a five-hour discussion, the City Council capped annual increases to 3% in buildings built on or before Feb. 1, 1995. Tenants in those properties will have just-cause evictions protections as well, meaning a landlord can’t remove them unless certain conditions are met, such as failure to pay rent.
The “rent freeze” is set to expire in a year — a move officials say is needed to prevent landlords from jacking up rents while a permanent measure is debated.
“We need to have the freeze in order to have the conversation because the conversation causes displacement,” Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells said in an interview before the vote.
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