Santa Monica Property Management

Property Management in Santa Monica, CA

Bessa Properties manages apartment buildings, condos, and houses in Santa Monica: rent collection, maintenance, leasing, and the city's rent control and leasing rules, handled by a California DRE-licensed company that knows how differently this city works from the rest of the Westside.

A rental market with its own charter

Santa Monica's rent control is not an ordinance the City Council can tweak at a Tuesday meeting. It sits in the City Charter, Article XVIII, and is run by an elected Rent Control Board with its own staff, its own hearings, and a record of every controlled unit's maximum allowable rent. Most of the city's older apartment buildings are in it.

The owners we talk to here tend to be in one of a few spots. A family that has held a ten-unit building in Mid-City or near Pico for decades, with a few tenants paying a fraction of market and a roof that is due. Someone who bought a condo in Ocean Park or north of Wilshire, moved for work, and wants to rent it without getting it wrong. Or an heir to a duplex in Sunset Park who is weighing whether to live in one side and rent the other.

How Santa Monica rules affect you as an owner

Is the unit controlled? The Charter covers residential rental units in the city, with exemptions. The main ones for owners: units built after the rent control law took effect in April 1979, and buildings of three units or fewer where the owner lives on the property as a primary residence. A single-family house, and in most cases a condominium, falls under the state Costa-Hawkins Act, which lets the owner set the rent freely even though the city's eviction rules still apply. Getting this right starts with the Rent Control Board's record for the address, which we pull before we take on a property.

The annual increase. Once a year the Board sets a general adjustment effective September 1. Under Charter section 1805 it is 75 percent of the change in the regional Consumer Price Index for the year ending in March, and it can never be less than zero or more than 3 percent. The Board can also set a dollar cap. For September 1, 2026 the adjustment is 2.6 percent with a cap of $70 a month, so any unit with a maximum allowable rent of about $2,674 or more gets $70 and no more. To take it, the tenancy must have started before September 1, 2025, the unit must be registered and paid up on fees, there can be no uncorrected code citations, and the tenant needs at least 30 days' written notice.

Registration. Every controlled unit carries an annual registration fee, and up to half of it can be passed through to the tenant in monthly installments with notice. Unpaid fees block the general adjustment, and under the Charter a tenant can withhold rent if an owner willfully fails to register. We keep the fee current and the Board's records matched to the rent roll.

Vacancies. When a tenant leaves voluntarily, state law lets you set a new starting rent, which then becomes the unit's base for future adjustments. That is where value in an older Santa Monica building sits, so move-outs deserve a careful turn: repairs done, the unit photographed and priced against current listings nearby, the new rent reported to the Board.

Evictions. Charter section 1806 lists the only reasons a controlled tenancy can end: unpaid rent, an uncured lease violation, nuisance or serious damage, illegal use, refusing to sign a renewal on similar terms, refusing access, an unapproved subtenant, owner or relative move-in, demolition with permits, and withdrawal of the building from the rental market. Owner move-in cannot displace a tenant who is 62 or older or disabled and has lived in the unit five years or more. No-fault terminations trigger permanent relocation fees under Municipal Code chapter 4.36, set by City Council resolution and due when the notice is served. We do not serve a no-fault notice in Santa Monica without an attorney reviewing it.

Leases and furnishings. This is the one out-of-town owners miss. Municipal Code chapter 6.22, adopted in 2020, says a rental unit may be leased only unfurnished (appliances such as a stove, refrigerator, dishwasher, and washer and dryer are allowed), only for an initial term of at least one year, and only to a person who will live there as a primary residence, with a written notice of those terms in English and Spanish. There are exemptions, including some owner-occupied rentals. In practice it closes the door on corporate housing and furnished monthly rentals in most Santa Monica units. We manage furnished rentals in other cities; here, if chapter 6.22 applies to your unit, we lease it unfurnished.

Short-term rentals. Chapter 6.20 bans vacation rentals, meaning any stay of 30 consecutive days or less in a unit where the host is not present, and bans advertising them. Home-sharing is allowed only in the host's own primary residence with the host living on site, a city permit, a business license, and hotel tax. An investment unit cannot be rented by the night.

Seismic retrofit. Chapter 8.72 requires retrofits for wood-frame buildings built under codes older than November 1980 with parking or open space under the upper floors. Once the city serves an order, an owner has four years for the structural evaluation, five to submit plans, and eight to finish. The work touches parking and sometimes units, so tenant protection during construction (chapter 8.100) needs to be planned with it.

Exempt buildings. A building that is not under Santa Monica rent control, such as a post-1979 apartment building, is usually still covered by California's statewide rent cap and just-cause law once it is more than fifteen years old. The owner should know which set of rules applies before sending any notice.

Who this suits

A house or condo you have moved out of

We price it, list it, screen applicants on income, credit, and rental history under California fair housing rules, and write a one-year unfurnished lease with the city and state notices. Then we run it: rent collection, repairs by vendors we already use, and a photo record at move-in and move-out. You can usually set the rent freely, but the tenant still has Santa Monica eviction protections, so the lease and screening need care up front.

A small building, two to ten units

The classic Santa Monica holding. Registration and fees kept current, the September adjustment taken on time with correct notice, old plumbing and panels handled before they fail, the seismic order tracked if one arrives, and the occasional long-term vacancy turned and re-rented at market.

Larger apartment buildings

For bigger properties the job is systems and records: a preventive maintenance calendar, a vendor bench for re-pipes and roofs, steady rent enforcement, and Board records that line up with the rent roll when a tenant files a petition or a buyer asks.

What management includes

• Pricing against comparable rentals nearby, not a citywide average
• Listing with professional photos across the major rental sites
• Applicant screening that follows California fair housing rules
• Leases that meet Santa Monica's one-year, unfurnished, and notice requirements where they apply
• Rent collection, late-rent follow-up, and monthly owner statements
• Maintenance coordination with licensed vendors, including after-hours calls
• Rent Control Board registration, general adjustment notices, and Board correspondence
• Move-in and move-out inspections with photo records

The flat-fee option

When increases are held to a few percent or a flat dollar cap, a management fee that rises with the rent does not make much sense. We offer flat-fee management: one predictable monthly amount per property that covers rent collection and maintenance coordination. Leasing, when a unit turns over, is a separate fee. You know what management costs before the year starts.

We quote the fee in writing after a short conversation about the property. Read more about flat-fee management or request a quote.

Frequently asked questions

We also manage in nearby Culver City, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Inglewood, and Hollywood.