By Brian CHERNICK

A proposed “Right To Lease” ordinance that would require landlords to provide all prospective tenants with a one-year lease along with a possible “Year 2 Option,” which would provide tenants with a forecast into the following year’s rental cost, lost steam during Tuesday night’s Glendale City Council meeting.

Currently, Glendale allows landlords to rent on a month-by-month basis or in the form of annual leasing. The proposed purpose of the ordinance was to help calm the anxiety of some renters over the uncertainty of possible frequent and/or large rent increases. The ordinance would have forced all landlords to provide a one-year lease to tenants and allow only annual rent increases. There would also be an option to present tenants with an opportunity for a second year lease at a fixed rate.

The councilmembers noted that the ordinance did not appear to gain much support from either tenants or landlords.

“This ordinance was brought with the clear intention of helping our tenants, yet I’m not hearing the tenants being in support of it; they seem to be against it,” Councilmember Zareh Sinanyan said. “So, it doesn’t really fulfill its stated purpose.”

An example of the ordinance was presented to council and illustrated an apartment lease of $1,200 per month for the first year with an option for the second year at $1,400 per month, a 16% increase. This was quickly pointed out by community speakers as an unsustainable increase that fails to address the issue of rental costs outpacing income.

Mike Van Gorder, a captain of the Glendale Tenants Union, pointed to the proposed relocation assistance, which would force landlords to provide financial assistance to renters who must move due to unaffordable rent increases. He stated this as one positive aspect of the ordinance, but ultimately referred to the plan as a “half-measure” that’s “well-intentioned” but with too many opportunities for backfire.

Glendale Tenants Union has been actively pushing rent control through ballot initiatives over the past year and is aiming to have a measure on the 2018 ballot if a petition garners enough signatures.

Mayor Vartan Gharpetian, who expressed his support of the ordinance, recommended additional community outreach for tenants and landlords to better understand the Right to Lease ordinance.

“You’re all here today because we have a crisis on our hands. This is not only Glendale, it is a regional issue. Rents are going up everywhere,” Gharpetian said. “We need to have some sort of stability for people.”

  Brian CHERNICK