COUNCIL TO VOTE ON RENT REVIEW APARTMENT OWNERS PROPOSE MEASURE.Byline: Helen Helen, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful of women; daughter of Leda and Zeus, and sister of Castor and Pollux and Clytemnestra. While still a young girl Helen was abducted to Attica by Theseus and Polydeuces, but Castor and Pollux rescued her. Gao Staff Writer GLENDALE - The Glendale Apartment Association has proposed a self-policing program in which landlords would give tenants one-year notice of rent increases and participate in mediation mediation, in law, type of intervention in which the disputing parties accept the offer of a third party to recommend a solution for their controversy. Mediation has long been a part of international law, frequently involving the use of an international commission, and arbitration arbitration Process of resolving a dispute or a grievance outside a court system by presenting it for decision to an impartial third party. Both sides in the dispute usually must agree in advance to the choice of arbitrator and certify that they will abide by the to resolve rent disputes. The proposal will be voted on by the City Council and the Housing Authority at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 613 E. Broadway. Under the plan, new tenants would be presented with a lease agreement that fixes their rent for a year. The lease also would disclose what the maximum rent increase could be in the next year. The logic behind the advance notice is that if tenants cannot afford the rent increase, they would have time to find a new place to live. ``It's a very good marketing tool. If you are a tenant and you come to Glendale and the landlord tells you what the parameters of your rent will be, you might be more interested in taking the unit based on the information,'' said Councilman Frank Quintero. Quintero said this might be a good time to put such a program in place because depressed economic conditions have dampened the inflationary in·fla·tion·ar·y adj. Of, associated with, or tending to cause inflation: inflationary prices; inflationary policies. Adj. 1. pressure on rents. Herbert Molano, president of the apartment association, was not available for comment. The second component of the program proposes mediation and binding arbitration to deal with interim tenant-landlord disputes. Tenants who receive notice of an increase of more than 10 percent would need to file a request with the apartment association for mediation 15 days after receiving the notice. The cost of a mediation or arbitration session to the landlord and tenant is $50 each. The mediation would be confidential and conducted by a neutral third party. If the dispute remained unresolved Not completed; not finished; not linked together. See resolve. within 30 days, the case would automatically go to binding arbitration, which would be held publicly. If the landlord failed to abide by To stand to; to adhere; to maintain. See also: Abide the results of the arbitration, the tenant then could seek redress Compensation for injuries sustained; recovery or restitution for harm or injury; damages or equitable relief. Access to the courts to gain Reparation for a wrong. REDRESS. The act of receiving satisfaction for an injury sustained. through civil litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. . The city's only role in the program would be to keep track of requests for mediation and arbitration. Mayor Gus Gomez said he would like to find out the cost of staff time to handle the record-keeping. ``If they say it's not going to cost the city anything, I would consider that,'' he said. ``Even if it is not money out of the city's pocket directly, ... if it involves time, I would like to know how much.'' |
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