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Letters to the Editor: L.A.’s rent control policies were already fair before the new cap

To the editor: Letter writer Ken Hense is citing an extreme example, which in reality is based on facts but not on evidence (“Letters to the Editor: I used to be a landlord. Los Angeles’ policies made that unfeasible,” April 25).

Under the pre-amended Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO), 8% was the maximum the City Housing Authority could set in any given year, but landlords were mandated to base the increase on the year-to-year change in the September Consumer Price Index. The increases under the RSO have been tied to inflation for decades, and I believe that to be a fair method of calculation.

The city makes available a history of the annual allowable rent increases at the Los Angeles Housing Department’s website. The allowable rent increase has never been 8%. The closest it came, 7%, was from 1979 to 1985, before the previous limits were established. Since then, the highest increase was 5%, from 1989 to 1993, and again for one fiscal year, 2007-08. Of the remainder, 25 out of 33 years had an increase of 3%.

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As someone who has lived in an apartment subject to the RSO since 1994, I can personally attest that my rent reached a figure twice the original amount only last year. Hardly the doom-and-gloom scenario Hense is trying to scare us with.

The only thing that scares me is that, with a calculation method that is practically guaranteed to result in even lower rent increases, the company that manages my building may not have the resources the next time I need the plumber to unclog my aging drain pipes.

Source: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/story/2026-04-30/la-rent-control-policies-cap