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Oakland Renters, Homeowners, City Workers and Clergy Push For More Renter Protections

by Lynda Carson (tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com)
On Thursday, March 3, 2016, a large coalition of Oakland renters, clergy, teachers, homeowners, unions, community organizations, small business and landlords filed a proposed anti-displacement ballot initiative that strengthens fair and equitable protections for Oakland tenants most impacted by the City’s growing housing crisis!
Oakland Renters, Homeowners, City Workers and Clergy Push For More Renter Protections

Oakland Renters, Homeowners, City Workers and Clergy File Anti-Displacement Housing Initiative Offering Stronger Tenant Protections for Oakland Families

By Lynda Carson - March 3, 2016
 
OAKLAND— On Thursday, March 3, 2016, a large coalition of Oakland renters, clergy, teachers, homeowners, unions, community organizations, small business and landlords filed a proposed anti-displacement ballot initiative that strengthens fair and equitable protections for Oakland tenants most impacted by the City’s growing housing crisis.

Oakland is presently facing a massive displacement of it’s renters as a result of never ending rent increases, and a weak pro-landlord rent stabilization ordinance. Oakland officials have been fueling the economic cleansing http://tinyurl.com/hf92gus taking place in the city, and the renters are being terrorized by skyrocketing rents, and greedy landlords evicting them by the thousands.
 
Oakland’s “Renters Upgrade” initiative was filed on March 3 at Oakland City Hall, and the Oakland renter’s movement is part of the growing renter’s movement seeking stronger renter protections in other cities of Northern California, including the City of Richmond http://tinyurl.com/j9xpphe , and Alameda http://tinyurl.com/z7thhwl , where renter protection initiatives were also filed recently.

The renter’s movement in San Mateo and San Jose are also preparing to file and introduce their own initiatives and ordinances to help lift up tenants from across the region.

If approved by voters, Oakland’s “Renters Upgrade” would expand Oakland’s current “Just Cause for Eviction” law and provide greater ability for the city to enforce existing laws amidst a wave of unfair evictions and widespread harassment as the demand for housing in Oakland grows.
 
The Renters Upgrade would:

·      Expand eviction protections to almost 45% more Oakland renters by making those protections apply to units built after 1983 and 1995.
·      Establish a 5% rent cap – half of the current rent cap (10%)
·      Establish a rent stabilization board with the majority of members comprised of current tenants
·      Require improved tracking and a publically accessible database for all rent increases to ensure increased internal city communication with the various departments in charge of housing;
·      and Require that the City prioritize resources for the enforcement of all protections and a program for the tenant protection ordinance’s implementation.

“On behalf of the many Oakland renters who have struggled for over thirty years with the abuses of a landlord-written ordinance, this is a proud day to finally begin the process of qualifying a real rent control measure that will ensure justice and fairness for tenants.”, said James Vann of the Oakland Tenants Union.
 
Finding affordable housing in Oakland for many is becoming a daunting task. “Finding quality, affordable housing is a problem for everyone, including teachers, janitors, city workers, all working families,” says Paula Beal, an Oakland renter. “I am a renter, a senior citizen and a grandmother and I am personally affected by the issues addressed in this initiative, I have been displaced multiple times in the last several years because I am not protected by our City's current tenant laws. The Renters Upgrade is a common sense initiative that would help me and other long-time renters, elders, youth, working families stay in our homes and near our communities.”
 
The foreclosure crisis is responsible for displacing thousands from Oakland. “I’ve been an Oakland homeowner for over 35 years. We saw the foreclosure crisis displace thousands of homeowners from this city and now we’re seeing this recent housing boom make it difficult for renters, who make up 60% of Oakland’s population, to remain here. It's not fair, it’s not what Oakland is about and it’s time we as a community, work towards a solution,” says Shirley Burnell, West Oakland homeowner and lifelong Oakland resident.

Rent hikes in California have outpaced the national average during every month of 2015, according to ApartmentList.com, http://tinyurl.com/zccoulx . Of the ten most expensive cities in California, San Francisco is at the top of the list followed by Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey, Palo Alto, West Hollywood, Berkeley, Pacifica, San Mateo, San Rafael, and Foster City.

Another recent survey also reveals that the fair market rents in Oakland have almost doubled since 2011. Additionally, in the top ten cities throughout the nation with the greatest rent increases during recent years, Oakland tops the list according to Smartasset.com, http://tinyurl.com/z2m7roh , surpassing San Francisco, New York City, San Jose, Houston, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Denver, Colorado Springs, and Chicago.

The housing crisis in Oakland has become so severe, that the City is listed as #4 on the list of cities across the nation with the highest rents for one bedroom apartments. The median price for a one bedroom apartment in Oakland now is $2,200, according to the latest report from Zumper.com http://tinyurl.com/z3wfpuz for February.

Just Cause Eviction Protection Ordinance

Back in 2002, there was also a huge struggle in Oakland that took place in the effort to protect renters with a just cause eviction protection ordinance that went into effect http://tinyurl.com/zuyjct8 , and the community effort has resulted in protecting thousands of renters from unjust no-cause evictions.

In this struggle, community members raised around $80,000 and more to fund the just cause campaign to bring it to the voters, and the landlord/real estate members that were in opposition to the renter protections spent around $500,000 to defeat the measure. In the end, the supporters of just cause eviction protections won with a narrow margin victory of less than 3,000 votes.

Rent control has been a huge success in protecting renters and stabilizing communities in other cities in California http://tinyurl.com/6rlj3zx , and just cause eviction protections have also been a huge success in protecting renters in numerous cities.
 
The current broad coalition supporting more renter protections in Oakland which includes city workers, homeowners, small landlords, clergy who have lost scores of congregants to the housing crisis, nurses, teachers and tenants; are united in a desire to stop rising rents and displacement disrupting the lives of thousands of working class people and Black families in Oakland.
 
Coalition Members Include: Alliance of California for Community Empowerment Action: California Nurses Association: Causa Justa :: Just Cause: East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy: Oakland Community Organizations: Oakland Rising: Oakland Tenants Union: SEIU Local 1021:

Proposal To Move Eviction Case System From Oakland To Hayward Will Cause Homelessness

Another problem Oakland renters are currently facing: It appears that the low-income communities of Oakland and Berkeley have been placed at further risk of homelessness if a proposal to consolidate eviction cases in Hayward http://tinyurl.com/j8kdy79 moves forward, and takes effect.

The Alameda County Superior Court reorganization proposal by Judge Morris Jacobson, http://tinyurl.com/hps7pgv , which includes the proposal to consolidate eviction cases in Hayward, will severely restrict poor, elderly, and disabled tenants’ access to justice, according to the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board.

According to public documents from the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board, http://tinyurl.com/zgab8mw , “Oakland and Berkeley are at the epicenter of the housing crisis in Alameda County. With roughly 46% of the county’s tenants and home to over half the county’s individuals in poverty, there are more evictions in Berkeley and Oakland than anywhere else in Alameda County.”

In a proposed December 14, 2015, letter from the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board to Judge Jacobson, the board points out that the Hayward Courthouse is not easy to reach by way of public transportation for tenants residing in Oakland and Berkeley, and will have a disparate impact on our county’s most vulnerable population.

With such tight deadlines to meet, the consequence of being an hour late to a court date in an unlawful detainer action (eviction case) can make the difference between being housed or losing one’s home by default judgement, according to the board.

The proposal to move the self-help center to Hayward will also make it much more difficult for the poor, disabled, and low-income communities of color in Oakland and Berkeley to fight against evictions, if they try to represent themselves.

Community activists are urging people to send letters to Judge Jacobson http://tinyurl.com/h4ss8bd . Tenant and housing activists urge people to contact Judge Morris Jacobson. People may write directly to Judge Jacobson and tell him that the community at large in Oakland and Berkeley totally disagrees with the decision to move the eviction case system to Hayward http://tinyurl.com/h4ss8bd , because it will result in more homelessness. Our most vulnerable community members in Oakland and Berkeley may be deprived of their most basic constitutional and human rights, if the plan to consolidate eviction cases in Hayward occurs.

Know Your Rights

Just Cause Eviction Protections - Know Your Rights

Click below…

http://www.cjjc.org/en/know-your-rights

Eviction Defense Center - 510- 452-4541
East Bay Community Law Center - 510- 548-4040
Bay Area Legal Aid: 510- 663-4744 or 663-4745: Legal Advice Line- 800-551-5554
Tenant’s Together: 415- 495-8100 http://www.tenantstogether.org/

Pro-Tenant Attorneys
Andrew Wolff 510- 834-3300
Leah Hess 510- 451-3103
Phil Rapier 510- 444-6262
Jeffrey Carter 510- 548-4774
Roxanne Romell 510- 465-3210
Bill Simpich (civil rights attorney) 510- 444-0226

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com
                             
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Clarification: Oakland #5 on list of highest rents for one bedroom units.

The housing crisis in Oakland has become so severe, that the City is listed as #5 on the list of cities across the nation with the highest rents for one bedroom apartments. The median price for a one bedroom apartment in Oakland now is $2,200, according to the latest report from Zumper.com http://tinyurl.com/z3wfpuz for February.

Lynda Carson

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