West Hollywood City Council candidate Robert Oliver is a landlord too. Oliver and his partner purchased a duplex on Rugby Drive in 2017 for $1,995,000. Despite prior statements of having lived in the city of West Hollywood for over 10 years, the public records show that Oliver moved into West Hollywood five years ago.
WEHOville became aware of Oliver’s status as a landlord when we received a letter from a friend of Oliver’s tenant.
“Just saw Robert Oliver’s website saying he supports renters rights. I’m friends with his tenant on rugby, he had to go back to London for 5 months and asked if he could sublet his place and Robert said absolutely not. How can he say he supports renters but he won’t let his own tenant save thousands of dollars when he needs to leave? That’s BS.”
During the debates Oliver indicated that he worked with his husband in their family business but never indicated he was a landlord. His ballot statement also does not include any mention of being a property owner.
Oliver may have also slipped his landlord status from UNITE HERE Local 11, who described the candidate as a lowly restaurant employee who understands hard work.
Their rental unit, a 2bedroom 2bath, was leased on 9/25/20 for $4,100 per month. According to CoreLogic the property has a current market value of $3 million.
WEHOville reached out to Robert Oliver for comment and he did not reply..
What does he do for a living that he can afford a $2Million dollar building? I wasn’t aware that he had a real job.
subletting is risky for landlords especially when its hard to kick out shady tenants in california
How does one claim to be the “best choice for renters” but not disclose owning a rental property? His tenants could let us know firsthand why he’s the best choice. Perhaps this is why he omitted it?
Do people understand that since the first election in Weho since 80s probably every candidate has made a pledge of RENT CONTROL it’s exhausting that new candidates can not figure another major issue regardless of rent control
Subletting is usually not permitted per lease agreements, so even though I’m not voting for flip-flopper-defund-the-police Opportunistic Oliver, he has every right to deny his tenant from subletting and I do not fault him for it nor think that makes him unsupportive of renters. Being a good landlord does not automatically mean catering to every desired whim that a renter asks of you. More over, subletting is usually not permitted because there is no way for a landlord to know what amount of rent the tenant is collecting from the sub-tenant. Some tenants take advantage of this and rent their… Read more »
Not voting for this guy but come on…owning a duplex hardly makes you a landlord any more than having a roommate help pay your rent using a second bedroom. There are plenty of other reasons to NOT vote for him.
Great, so now everyone can vote for Zekiah and Chelsea. I’m sure that’s who all the activist groups want anyway. White gay men are so passé.
I’m a chef….but a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of so many important people who will assist me in becoming first your Councilmember and next your President.
This guy is a loon weathervane who will soon be friendless in West Hollywood. Bye Bye!!!
May the best liar opportunist win in Weho
If a proposed tenant for sub letting checks all the boxes, any half decent landlord will allow the transaction to take place, especially if you claim to have the backs of renters.
He also claims to be pro abortion, but how can he be if he doesn’t have a uterus?
Of all of the obvious political cheap shots, this is the silliest. It’s illegal to sublet a rent control unit. If he had done so, there would be a hit article about how he broke the law.
Also, is any of this substantiated beyond a friend’s cousin’s roommate’s dog claiming this in an anonymous email?
It’s truly offensive to renters to define “moving into West Hollywood” as homeownership, like none of his time as a renter before he bought his home counted.
Thank you for stating exactly what I was coming here to say. I used to enjoy reading this site but this election cycle has exposed the editors’ obvious bias and agenda towards certain candidates and their tendency to publish “hit pieces” full of unsubstantiated gossip and “op-eds” presented as facts.
Robert is on the deed as the owner, and we reached out to him for comment. Your comments under ten different names show your bias. There pages are open for Robert to add a rebuttal.
Oliver is quoted in another source as suggesting WEHOville is one resident’s personal gossip blog. Someone took their communication marching orders seriously by using the “Just Another Gossip Blog” as their anonymous identity. Funny how they try to dismiss it while simultaneously and anonymously fighting the narrative. Not funny, actually, just sad.
Back in 2019 D’Amico, Horvath and Meister signed a law requiring minimum 1 year tenancies for new leases. So if I, as a property owner wanted to go spend 5 months in London, I’m screwed too. Looks like a case of equal rights (or lack there of). I take it, his talent agent husband bought a building and put his name on the title to avoid probate. I do the same, it doesn’t make my partner a landlord. Now lying about residency is bad. Also what types of skills does a “chef” per Twitter bio bring to running a city?… Read more »
Signing off on prohibiting leases written for a time line of less than a year is the only good thing that Horvath ever did- that stops landlords from kicking out current tenants and replacing them with Airbnb clients.