Pomona : Council Orders Rent Study
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The City Council, concerned about reports of rent gouging, has asked a city commission, the city’s fair housing agency and a landlord group to study the problem and make recommendations.
Edna Scott, fair housing coordinator for the Pomona Neighborhood Center, told the council that landlords are buying up slum property and raising rents drastically without making improvements. Tenants who refuse to pay the increased rents are being evicted, she said, adding that some are unable to find other shelter and are left homeless.
The council, on a 3-2 vote, decided to ask the Community Life Commission, which oversees city housing funds, to meet with the Pomona Neighborhood Center and an apartment owners organization to consider the problem.
Mayor Donna Smith and Councilman Mark A.T. Nymeyer voted against the action after expressing concern that the city might be headed toward rent control.
Councilman C. L. (Clay) Bryant said imposing rent control would be a last resort. “If we can possibly avoid rent control, I would lean hard in that direction,” he said.
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