Glendale, California Passes 'Right-to-Lease' Ordinance

Rents in Glendale may go up next year, but there's good news for some renters. After contentious arguments, the Glendale City Council agreed to a new ordinance to grant new rights to renters. "Now, after a two-month rent freeze, the city council has approved an ordinance that requires landlords to offer existing tenants an additional one-year lease on their apartments, rather than defaulting to a month-to-month agreement, and to pay for relocation costs if they plan to raise the rent by more than 7 percent," Jared Brey writes for Next City.

While landlords complain this regulation creates an unnecessary burden, tenant’s rights groups complain the law doesn't go far enough. "The policy that the Tenants Union drafted would have capped rent increases at 4 percent per year and established a rental review board to oversee enforcement of tenancy laws," Brey writes. The city had previously considered rent control before arriving at this right-to-lease policy.