BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ
Daily Post Staff Writer
The California Apartment Association (CAA) is gearing up to campaign against a possible rent control measure in Redwood City.
The measure, led by nonprofit Faith in Action Bay Area, has not officially landed on the November ballot, but the CAA is getting ready just in case, CAA Communications Director Mike Nemeth said in a statement Friday.
Faith in Action Bay Area, which organizes in communities on various issues, is seeking to place an initiative on the ballot to limit rent increases and protect tenants from eviction by imposing stricter rules. The group collected over 7,300 signatures, and Chief Elections Officer Mark Church’s office is currently verifying signatures to ensure everyone is over 18 and registered to vote, City Clerk Yessika Castro said.
If the measure wins at the ballot box, it will limit rent increases to 60% of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), capped at 5%, and make changes to relocation payments and evictions.
Since 2019, California has had a rent control law (the Tenant Protection Act of 2019, or AB 1482), which annual rent increases to 5% plus the local cost of living (CPI), or a strict maximum of 10% (whichever is lower).
For tenants on a month-to-month lease, the California law limits increases to twice a year.
California’s law also contains a “just-cause” eviction provision (such as nonpayment of rent or breach of lease) to evict tenants who have lived in the unit for more than 12 months.
The proposed Redwood City measure would tighten just-cause eviction rules, and landlords will have to provide tenants with relocation assistance equal to four times the monthly fair market rent or $12,000, whichever is greater, Nemeth said.
The Redwood City measure excludes single-family homes, condominiums and units built after 1995. The 2019 state law excludes housing built within the last 15 years (this is a rolling date, meaning units built in 2011 are exempt, but eventually age into coverage). The state law also exempts single-family homes unless it is owned by Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), a corporation, or an LLC where at least one member is a corporation.
The RWC measure also creates a city-administered regulatory program that will be funded by landlords, who would have to pay annual fees.
Guillermina Hernandez, a member of Faith in Action, said on Monday that she has heard of cases in which tenants’ rents increase, but the conditions are horrible. Landlords have agreed to fix apartments but still raise rent, Hernandez said.
Council on Monday moved forward with changes to its tenant protection ordinance to regulate appeal guidelines and landlord relocation assistance fees.
The ordinance helps tenants achieve greater stability through lease-term requirements, just-cause eviction protections, and relocation assistance.
But local property managers like Denise are worried they will not be able to cover repair costs, such as replacing sewer lines, if they have to offer tenants the same rent rate.
“We’re bleeding money. There’s just no way to recover costs. We’re basically renting out properties for free,” said Denise, who only gave her first name at the council hearing.
The CAA has a successful record of defeating rent-control ballot measures, including in San Mateo in 2016, Burlingame in 2016 and Pacifica in 2018.
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