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Rent control is coming to Santa Rosa

by Lynda carson (tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com)
The renter protections, taking effect September 15, will require landlords to prove “cause” in court or before a political body every time they try to evict a resident or family, in an effort to displace them from the community!

Rent control is coming to Santa Rosa

By Lynda Carson - August 18, 2016

After years of developers, realtors/associations, landlords and their apartment associations have conspired to rip off the renters with massive rent increases, while displacing thousands with no-cause evictions through the eviction-for-profit system, on Tuesday August 16, the City Council voted to pass rent control, and just cause eviction protections in Santa Rosa. According to Trulia, the median rent in Santa Rosa is over $2,500 per month.

According to The Press Democrat, “This is a difficult and historic moment for our city,” said Combs, who stressed that the move was just one of several initiatives the council is taking to address the housing crisis.

Landlords including the California Apartment Association opposed the much needed renter protections that will stabilize families and communities in Santa Rosa, while the majority of speakers supported the much needed renter protections, according to reports.

If ratified after a second reading on August 30 as is expected, the renter protections would take effect on September 29.

The ordinance includes rent control (the ordinance before amendments were attached), just cause eviction protections, and reasonable requirements for relocation assistance that would cost landlords three times the monthly rent plus $1,500 in moving expenses. The ordinance has had some additional amendments attached to it offering more renter protections such as rolling back the rents to January 2016 levels, strict criteria for capital improvement plans, a 3 percent cap on rent increases annually unless capital improvements have been made, including city approval for the capital improvement plan. The renter protections apply to multifamily rental housing units built prior to Feb. 1, 1995, exempting single family homes, apartments built after 1995, condos, duplexes and owner-occupied triplexes.

The renter protections, taking effect September 15, will require landlords to prove “cause” in court or before a political body every time they try to evict a resident or family, in an effort to displace them from the community. Under the ordinance, tenants are protected from greedy landlords, realtors, or their agents, and landlords may only evict a tenant or their family for one or more of the following reasons:

Violation of obligation of tenancy
Non-payment of rent or habitual late payment of rent
Nuisance violations
Illegal use of premises
Refusal to renew lease
Refusal to provide access
Owner’s correction of violations in response to a government order
Withdrawal of the rental unit from the rental market
Owner or relative move-in

Once the ordinances goes into effect on September 15 the renter protections will protect renters in approximately 11,000 units, and there may be a sunset of the ordinance if vacancy rates in Santa Rosa reach 5 percent for 12 consecutive months.

Renter protections are on the ballot in 6 cities in November. Tenant advocates across the Bay Area are urging renters to vote on strong renter protections during the upcoming November elections in the cities of Oakland, Richmond, Alameda, Burlingame, San Mateo, and Mountain View. The activists are also urging people to vote against any weak proposals placed on the ballot by the City Council in Alameda, and Mountain View.


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


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Clarification:
If ratified after a second reading on August 30 as is expected, the renter protections would take effect on September 29, not September 15.

(LC)
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