Many long-time Bay Area residents have been displaced over the last several years. The stock of affordable housing options continues to dwindle and the median rent in Oakland is now $3,000 a month. Heartless landlords are taking extreme measures to boost their profit at the expense of tenants. In one recent example, an East Palo Alto property owner and his son were arrested for a plot to push tenants out of rent-controlled units by destroying their property.

With a chance to put a damper on the housing crisis, six Bay Area cities will vote on renter protection measures this November 8. In Oakland, a grassroots effort to strengthen outdated tenant rights laws led to Measure JJ being placed on the ballot. In the city of Alameda, where it took more 7,300 registered voters to place Measure M1 on the November ballot, the fight for renter protections has been fierce. In Richmond, with Measure L now on the ballot, the struggle for renter rights is a battle against the the California Apartment Association (CAA) and its corrupting influence on local politicians. In San Mateo, activists collected more than 11,000 signatures to place Measure Q on the ballot. In Mountain View, activists and renters are urging voters to approve Measure V to protect over 14,000 households. In Burlingame, renters fought to bring Measure R forward for a vote in November.

The California Apartment Association is running attack ads against the renter protection ballot measures in Richmond, Alameda, Mountain View, San Mateo and Burlingame. After the East Bay Rental Housing Association, an affiliate office for the CAA, sent a a deceptive anti-rent control mailer, tenant rights groups protested and filed a complaint with the state Fair Political Practices Commission. While landlords and the CAA try to stop the renters' movement, tenant advocates across the Bay Area urge voters to support the strong renter protections in Richmond, Oakland, Alameda, Burlingame, San Mateo, and Mountain View, and to vote “no” against weak proposals placed on the ballot by the City Councils in Alameda and Mountain View.

Read More: Notorious landlords support attack campaigns against rent control ballot measures | Renter protection activists counter the lies of the California Apartment Association | Oakland's notorious serial evictor is William J. Rosetti with 4,000 eviction notices | Mayor Schaaf proposes tenants should pay half of new taxes on rental properties | Protest Extreme Rent and Fee Hikes at Trailer Haven, and all around San Leandro | Corrupting influence of big money against rent control | Alameda activists to rally & distribute 10,000 door hangers supporting Measure M1 | Alameda landlords hate renter protections | CAA opposes ordinance to protect Section 8 renters from discrimination | Skyrocketing rents reveal need for strong rent control protections | Renter protections on the ballot in November to look for | Renters' groups file FPPC complaint against landlord lobby's deceptive mailers | The CAA plans to run attack ads against renter protection ballot measures | Richmond Mayor accepted CAA contributions before he voted no on eviction moratorium | Richmond Mayor & two council members block emergency eviction and rent increase moratorium | Richmond to vote on emergency moratorium on evictions and high rent increases | Scott Sternberg of Beverly Hills is behind Richmond’s mass evictions | Danny Haber and Alon Gutman target tenants with eviction and higher rents | Oakland landlords rip off renters with high rents in high crime areas | Is Matt Sridhar the owner of Bay View Apartments in Alameda a slumlord? | National Renters’ Day of Action on September 22 | Hacker houses are proliferating in the Bay Area | HUD policies threaten poor, elderly, disabled, and low-income people with eviction | Rent increases in least expensive apartments show need for rent control | Strong renter protections are needed in Oakland and other Bay Area cities

Related Features: Renter Protections on the November Ballot for Six Bay Area Cities | Richmond Activists Wrap Up Renter Protection Signature Gathering Campaign | California Apartment Association Targets Medical Marijuana Users | Housing State of Emergency Declared in Oakland | Oakland Justice Coalition Pushing for Radical Change at the Ballot Box | California Apartment Association Stalking the Tenants' Rights Movement | Oakland Real Estate & Business Conference Shut Down | Community Call for "Public Land for Public Good" Ignored by Oakland City Council