Oakland City Council approves 90 day moratorium on rent increases

Oakland City Council approves 90 day moratorium on rent increases

By Lynda Carson - April 6, 2016

Oakland - Early Wednesday morning the Oakland City Council voted unanimously to support a 90-day moratorium on rent increases, but failed to pass an ordinance that would have imposed a temporary freeze on evictions, as was proposed in an original version of proposals to be voted on.

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.”

Due to the housing crisis, Oakland renters are facing a bit less than 1,000 evictions per month. There are around 11,150 eviction termination notices on file with the Rent Stabilization Board from January 1, 2015 through March 2016. Additionally, there were around 10,910 evictions filed in 2013 in Oakland, and around 13,000 or more evictions filed in 2014.

As a result of never ending rent increases, activists have been pushing for a temporary freeze on evictions, which was rejected by Councilwoman McElhaney.

Oakland rents have been skyrocketing in recent years and according to Trulia the median rent in Oakland is presently $3,000 per month.

Rent hikes in California have outpaced the national average during every month of 2015, according to ApartmentList.com. 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, 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 #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 for February.

Over 200 speakers appeared at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, with most speakers in support of the 90-day moratorium on rent increases, which does not apply to rental units built after 1983.

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com

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