Santa Monica voters will decide next month whether landlords can still evict tenants over rent debts as small as $73.87, under a measure that would require unpaid rent to exceed roughly one month's fair market rent before a nonpayment eviction could proceed. Measure RR would limit when Santa Monica landlords can evict tenants for unpaid rent, a significant shift from current rules that allow eviction for any amount owed, however small.
As reported by the Santa Monica Daily Press, city records include eviction notices for debts as low as $73.87, a figure that supporters point to as evidence the current system allows disproportionate consequences for minor arrears. Under existing protections, landlords may evict tenants for any amount of rent owed, according to California Choices. Measure RR would change that by requiring the tenant's debt to exceed the applicable average Small Area Fair Market Rent before an eviction for nonpayment could move forward.
How the Threshold Would Be Calculated
The threshold would be calculated annually by averaging federal rent estimates for similarly sized units across Santa Monica's five ZIP codes, with the limit set each year by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Based on current HUD fair market rent estimates, the Santa Monica Daily Press's report lists a studio at $2,708 a month, a one-bedroom at $3,034, a two-bedroom at $3,782, and a three-bedroom at $4,796. Those figures would set the floor beneath which a nonpayment eviction could not proceed for an equivalent-sized unit.
The measure would also require written termination notices to state the number of bedrooms in a tenant's unit and the applicable average Small Area Fair Market Rent for an equivalent-sized rental, according to the City of Santa Monica. Measure RR would apply to rent-controlled apartments and other rentals covered by the city's existing eviction protections.
What the Threshold Would Mean in Practice
The practical effect depends heavily on how much a given tenant owes. A two-bedroom tenant owing $100 could face no eviction for unpaid rent, though the landlord could still seek to collect the debt through other means. The same holds for a two-bedroom tenant owing $1,500, since that amount falls below the $3,782 threshold for that unit size. But a two-bedroom tenant owing $6,000 could still face eviction under the measure, just as under current rules, since that debt exceeds the threshold.
That last scenario is closer to the norm than the exception. About 75 percent of eviction lawsuits reported to Santa Monica since 2024 were for nonpayment, with a median debt of about $6,000, per the Santa Monica Daily Press's reporting. Because that median debt exceeds one month's fair market rent in most unit sizes, most nonpayment eviction cases would likely proceed as they do currently. The measure would not affect a landlord's right to collect unpaid rental debt from a tenant through means other than eviction, according to the Santa Monica city attorney's analysis.
Supporters and Critics Weigh In
Supporters call the threshold reasonable and common-sense, arguing that evictions often push tenants into homelessness. No ballot argument or organized opposition has been filed against Measure RR, though a regional landlord group criticized the limit in a letter to the city council, saying it could let tenants fall too far behind to catch up before a landlord has eviction recourse. The measure does not address a potential gap in which a low-rent tenant could accumulate more than a month of arrears while a tenant in a higher-rent unit could face eviction after owing far less, and no analysis of how often that gap would arise in practice has been published.
Context From Elsewhere in California
Santa Monica is not alone in weighing this approach. Los Angeles landlords have been barred since March 2023 from evicting a tenant who falls behind in rent unless the debt exceeds the Fair Market Rent, according to the Los Angeles City Council District 10 office. San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder introduced a similar proposal in September, which would use HUD fair-market-rent figures rather than a tenant's actual rent and has drawn support from five co-sponsors and Mayor Daniel Lurie, as reported by SFist. Oakland, Berkeley, and Los Angeles have reportedly adopted similar one-month thresholds, per the same report.
The Santa Monica City Council adopted the nonpayment eviction-protection proposal as part of a package approved 6-0 before sending it to voters. Measure RR requires approval by a simple majority of those voting on it to pass when Santa Monica residents cast ballots on November 2.
