The city of East Palo Alto is looking north for a review of its rent stabilization program after a recent court decision found that its rent program to be illegal.

The East Palo Alto City Council will be paying Berkeley $15,000 to conduct a detailed review of the ordinances, regulations and practices employed by staff in East Palo Alto.

The Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board is charging the fee since such a review could take up to 150 hours and cost between $85 to $100 per hour for staff work, said board Executive Director Jay Kelekian.

"Since we are a fee-based program, we said we would be happy to provide a service but would need the cost of the staff working on it offset," he said.

Kelekian said although the cities have met at no charge in the past to discuss statewide issues, this review would be more extensive and broader in scope than past collaborations.

"It's one thing to have the director from the East Palo Alto or Oakland boards call me up and ask what our new petition forms look like, and as a professional courtesy we have gone back and forth and assisted," he said.

The East Palo Alto Rent Stabilization Board came under scrutiny after the city froze rents for 6 months in response to landlord Page Mill Properties' rent increase on 1,300 apartment units within the city. Page Mill Properties then sued the city, according to Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Chair Jesse Arreguin.

"The city kept allowing for certain units to arbitrarily issue rent increases, so in December Page Mill Properties decided to hit tenants and properties all at once with rent increases," he said.

A judge recently ruled that the East Palo Alto rent board should have monitored the rent increase certificates they allowed to be issued.

East Palo Alto is now deciding whether to appeal the judge's ruling, Arreguin said.

The board will be operating in three phases in which they review East Palo Alto's ordinances and regulations as well as registration and petition forms, assess the strength and weaknesses of these documents, and finally offer recommendations.

A former director of the Berkeley rent board consulted with the East Palo Alto rent board when it was originally created, so there are many similarities in the two governments' boards, Kelekian said.

"We basically understand rent control and the issues," he said. "Instead of hiring a consultant, we come with much of the knowledge base attached."

East Palo Alto Vice Mayor Donna Rutherford said that the city sought the advice of Berkeley's board because of its familiarity with East Palo Alto's rent board.

"We as a council haven't really talked about specifics but we thought we'd contact Berkeley and find out some of the things they did," she said. "This is a new area for us, but they have experience."

Tags: RENT STABILIZATION BOARD, EAST PALO ALTO