Page 11 - AAGLA-JAN 2022

Board President’s Message
BOARD PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Celebrating Over a Century of Service to Rental Housing Providers
IBy Cheryl Turner, President of the Board of Directors
want to take this time to wish each of you and your families a very happy and healthy New Year. As we enter the 2022 new year, the Apartment Association continues its second century of service to all members and advocacy on behalf of the rental housing industry. I am so very pleased to again serve as President of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles’ board of directors at this important moment
The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles was founded by Elizabeth McGonigal in 1917 when
McGonigal and a handful of friends
first invested in Los Angeles rental
units. Elizabeth McGonigal became
the first president of the newly formed
association. At that time, membership
dues were only $1.00 per year. Then
in 1921, the Los Angeles City Council
enacted its first rent control ordinance,
and thus became the early rallying
cry for AAGLA to begin advocating
for rental property ownership rights.
Over the years since then and some
more recently, many other cities
such as Beverly Hills, Culver City,
Inglewood, Santa Monica, West
Hollywood, Bell Gardens, and now Santa Ana have enacted their own rent stabilization ordinances, along with the State of California which adopted statewide rent control and renter protections pursuant to Assembly Bill § 1482.
We can only dream about the simpler times of those rental housing providers who were permitted and able to own rental housing property when Elizabeth McGonigal lived nearly a century ago. Now all of us, including those whose families have owned multifamily rental housing for generations, as well as
those who are the first in their families to own rental housing, are faced with far greater legislative and political obstacles that threaten the multifamily rental housing industry. We are being attacked from all sides at the local city, county and state levels of government with an ever-spreading rent control, rental registration, increased inspection fees, excessive trash fees, constant attempts to overturn Proposition 13 which will cause increases in our property taxes, and more, all of which have made and will continue to make rental housing ownership unaffordable.
The looming threat of repeal of the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act of 1995, which places limits on rent control regulations by exempting newly constructed apartment units, condominiums and single-family homes, and allows us to raise our rental rates to market rent when a tenant vacates a rent-controlled the unit, if repealed would be disastrous for all California rental property owners. The demise of Costa-Hawkins and Proposition 13 will likely turn into what will be “Bankruptcy Bills” for many of us! We all must fight to keep
Costa-Hawkins and Proposition 13 in place because none of us can afford to lose those protections. The loss of either of these protections would truly be devastating to our industry.
In 2022 we must change the dialog about rental housing providers. By engaging in the service of providing rental housing, more and more often we are being accused of rent gouging, and unjustified or illegal evictions as the main causes of homelessness and community displacement. These
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APARTMENT AGE • JANUARY 2022 11