Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Monday, April 27, 2015
Tenants Stop Realtors' “Eviction by Declaration” Bill
Some ideas are even too anti-tenant to pass in realtor-dominated Sacramento. AB 205 (Wood) is a state realtor-sponsored bill that would have allowed evictions to occur outside the court eviction process. Tenants Together communicated our strong opposition to the bill’s author, as did allies including the Western Center on Law & Poverty. After learning more about the issue and the strong opposition, Assemblymember Wood did the right thing and pulled the bill. The Assembly Judiciary Committee hearing on the bill was scheduled for April 28, but has now been canceled at the author’s request.
AB 205 was a follow-up to last year’s AB 1513, authored by former Assemblymember Steve Fox as he tried to curry favor with realtors in an election year. Framed as a bill to deal with trespassers, the bill posed a major threat to tenants falsely accused of being unauthorized occupants in their own homes. Fox manage to get widespread support from legislators last year for AB 1513 after he converted it to a pilot project limited to a few cities.
We warned at the time that allowing this California Association of Realtors (CAR) bill to pass would whet CAR’s appetite to dismantle tenant protections by denying tenants the right to defend themselves in court. We were right. This year, CAR convinced Assemblymember Wood to author the next “eviction by declaration” bill. AB 205 (Wood) would have picked up where AB 1513 left off, allowing two more counties to bypass the eviction process.
This bill was the latest in CAR’s ongoing effort to undermine tenant protections and hurt California renters. The defeat is an important rebuke for CAR which is used to getting its way in Sacramento these days.
Sometimes reason prevails, even in the Capitol.
AB 205 was a follow-up to last year’s AB 1513, authored by former Assemblymember Steve Fox as he tried to curry favor with realtors in an election year. Framed as a bill to deal with trespassers, the bill posed a major threat to tenants falsely accused of being unauthorized occupants in their own homes. Fox manage to get widespread support from legislators last year for AB 1513 after he converted it to a pilot project limited to a few cities.
We warned at the time that allowing this California Association of Realtors (CAR) bill to pass would whet CAR’s appetite to dismantle tenant protections by denying tenants the right to defend themselves in court. We were right. This year, CAR convinced Assemblymember Wood to author the next “eviction by declaration” bill. AB 205 (Wood) would have picked up where AB 1513 left off, allowing two more counties to bypass the eviction process.
This bill was the latest in CAR’s ongoing effort to undermine tenant protections and hurt California renters. The defeat is an important rebuke for CAR which is used to getting its way in Sacramento these days.
Sometimes reason prevails, even in the Capitol.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
It's National Volunteer Week
Shout out to Tenants Together members and volunteers, who make our movement strong:
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
What "Market Rate" Really Means
A tenant's letter to the Board of Supervisors of San Mateo County, John Maltbie, County Manager, with a copy to the Daily Journal:
Dear Supervisors and Mr. Maltbie:
I've attached a copy of a marketing promotion for a multi-unit building in Burlingame for your reference. In it, you will see on page 4 that the realtor is suggesting to buyers that, should they buy the property, they can easily raise rents to all of the tenants and achieve "market rate." So, a person in a studio can expect a $700 increase, and a 1BR can be increased by $1,200. This building has actually been sold.
On pages 11 through 14 you can see the comparables and just imagine the impact on the renters of all of those buildings after experiencing new ownership.
"Market rates" are being set by predatory speculators. In Burlingame a couple of weeks ago, a "representative" from Marcus & Millichap was doing a "survey" of renters he would see in front of their buildings, and after asking a few friendly questions, would ask how much rent the tenant was paying. One can only imagine where this "survey" is headed.
Owners are being told that if they keep their rents at reasonable levels, their property values will plummet. So they must keep up with the Joneses and impoverish or economically evict their long-term and even valued tenants.
Large corporations are snatching up apartments and rental homes for their employees, paying 30% and more above "market rate," setting new "market rates" for others to achieve. Average working people have to compete for housing with very high earners, and now even their corporate employers with billions of dollars behind them.
Renters are the infrastructure of San Mateo County, and we are being dismantled piece by piece Please take leadership of this crisis and pave the way for the Cities to defend our infrastructure, our people, and institute rent stabilization immediately where you can.
Sincerely,
Cynthia Cornell
Burlingame Advocates for Renter Protections
Dear Supervisors and Mr. Maltbie:
I've attached a copy of a marketing promotion for a multi-unit building in Burlingame for your reference. In it, you will see on page 4 that the realtor is suggesting to buyers that, should they buy the property, they can easily raise rents to all of the tenants and achieve "market rate." So, a person in a studio can expect a $700 increase, and a 1BR can be increased by $1,200. This building has actually been sold.
On pages 11 through 14 you can see the comparables and just imagine the impact on the renters of all of those buildings after experiencing new ownership.
"Market rates" are being set by predatory speculators. In Burlingame a couple of weeks ago, a "representative" from Marcus & Millichap was doing a "survey" of renters he would see in front of their buildings, and after asking a few friendly questions, would ask how much rent the tenant was paying. One can only imagine where this "survey" is headed.
Owners are being told that if they keep their rents at reasonable levels, their property values will plummet. So they must keep up with the Joneses and impoverish or economically evict their long-term and even valued tenants.
Large corporations are snatching up apartments and rental homes for their employees, paying 30% and more above "market rate," setting new "market rates" for others to achieve. Average working people have to compete for housing with very high earners, and now even their corporate employers with billions of dollars behind them.
Renters are the infrastructure of San Mateo County, and we are being dismantled piece by piece Please take leadership of this crisis and pave the way for the Cities to defend our infrastructure, our people, and institute rent stabilization immediately where you can.
Sincerely,
Cynthia Cornell
Burlingame Advocates for Renter Protections
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Time to Overhaul Costa Hawkins
by Dean Preston, Tenants Together Executive Director
Residents of 901 Jefferson Street in Oakland are protesting increases ranging as high as 120% from their new, multi-billion dollar corporate landlord. In Daly City, Oscar Moreira is facing a 41% increase. In San Francisco, Debra Follingstad just received a notice from her landlord that her rent in San Francisco will increase 400%. In Redwood City, Martha Ortega got hit with a 125% rent increase. Across the Bay Area, rent increases in the double and triple digits are increasingly common.
If there was ever a time for widespread adoption of new rent control ordinances, the time is now. As rents soar, many cities are considering adopting new rent control ordinances. Richmond, Alameda, Burlingame, and Redwood City are among those where advocates are speaking out for rent control. Rent control is essential in these cities as tenants face rent increases exponentially greater than any rise in landlord operating costs.
Even with local rent control laws, however, many tenants will continue receiving huge rent increases thanks to the outdated Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act, a state law adopted in 1995 that is in desperate need of an overhaul. In a timely piece in the East Bay Express recently, Robert Gammon noted:
Costa Hawkins deprives cities the most effective tool they would otherwise have to reign in rent-gouging landlords: strong rent control. Costa Hawkins ties the hands of cities, barring them from applying rent control to certain kinds of housing – including condos, single family homes, and units built after 1995 -- and barring cities from regulating rent at the time tenants move in. Costa Hawkins also bars cities from moving their exemption date, so cities that had exemptions for new construction in their local laws when Costa Hawkins passed are stuck with those cutoffs. That’s why, as Gammon notes, Oakland cannot apply rent control to anything built after 1983. Cities are also blocked from applying rent control to the single family homes that are increasingly being bought up and rented out by Wall Street investors.
A growing number of tenants in California live in units that are exempt from rent control under state law. Tenants in those units need protection from exorbitant rent increases. Such rent increases contribute nothing to local economies and drive tenants into poverty and homelessness. Landlords do not have a legitimate need to impose these kinds of increases. Many reasonable landlords would never think of imposing such massive increases. Landlords who do impose such increases during a housing crisis, their rent gouging must be stopped.
Californians overwhelmingly support rent control. The last referendum on rent control – Proposition 98 in 2008—was decided against landlords by a 22-point margin statewide. Support continues to grow as people see landlords imposing massive rent increases during an affordable housing crisis.
Sacramento politicians are another matter. The landlord lobby has invested millions into political candidates, making statewide change difficult. Nonetheless, ask even the most reluctant politicians if they believe a landlord should be free to double their constituents’ rents, and they will usually respond in the negative. In other words, they support rent control, they just won’t admit it.
Two things must happen to stop the current epidemic of rent gouging in California. Cities without rent control should adopt rent control laws. Equally important, the state Costa Hawkins law must be changed to allow cities to take action to protect all tenants without interference from Sacramento. Landlords have had a 20-year period of windfall profits thanks to Costa Hawkins. Tenants statewide must organize against this special interest law that is allowing rent gouging and abuse of tenants.
Residents of 901 Jefferson Street in Oakland are protesting increases ranging as high as 120% from their new, multi-billion dollar corporate landlord. In Daly City, Oscar Moreira is facing a 41% increase. In San Francisco, Debra Follingstad just received a notice from her landlord that her rent in San Francisco will increase 400%. In Redwood City, Martha Ortega got hit with a 125% rent increase. Across the Bay Area, rent increases in the double and triple digits are increasingly common.
If there was ever a time for widespread adoption of new rent control ordinances, the time is now. As rents soar, many cities are considering adopting new rent control ordinances. Richmond, Alameda, Burlingame, and Redwood City are among those where advocates are speaking out for rent control. Rent control is essential in these cities as tenants face rent increases exponentially greater than any rise in landlord operating costs.
Even with local rent control laws, however, many tenants will continue receiving huge rent increases thanks to the outdated Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act, a state law adopted in 1995 that is in desperate need of an overhaul. In a timely piece in the East Bay Express recently, Robert Gammon noted:
Rents, in short, are officially out of control. And the skyrocketing prices are making apartments much too expensive for many longtime residents. Unfortunately, however, the city can't do much about it. Why? A twenty-year-old state law known as the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act blocks Oakland and other California cities from adopting sensible rent control rules that could help keep rent prices from getting even higher. Costa-Hawkins, which doesn't get nearly enough attention from the news media, prohibits Oakland from establishing rent control on buildings constructed after 1983. That means that about one-third of all rental units in Oakland — 32,000 out of 92,000 — are exempt from the city's rent control regulations.
-East Bay Express, “It’s Time to Overturn the State Ban on Rent Control” (Robert Gammon, March 25, 2015.)
Costa Hawkins deprives cities the most effective tool they would otherwise have to reign in rent-gouging landlords: strong rent control. Costa Hawkins ties the hands of cities, barring them from applying rent control to certain kinds of housing – including condos, single family homes, and units built after 1995 -- and barring cities from regulating rent at the time tenants move in. Costa Hawkins also bars cities from moving their exemption date, so cities that had exemptions for new construction in their local laws when Costa Hawkins passed are stuck with those cutoffs. That’s why, as Gammon notes, Oakland cannot apply rent control to anything built after 1983. Cities are also blocked from applying rent control to the single family homes that are increasingly being bought up and rented out by Wall Street investors.
A growing number of tenants in California live in units that are exempt from rent control under state law. Tenants in those units need protection from exorbitant rent increases. Such rent increases contribute nothing to local economies and drive tenants into poverty and homelessness. Landlords do not have a legitimate need to impose these kinds of increases. Many reasonable landlords would never think of imposing such massive increases. Landlords who do impose such increases during a housing crisis, their rent gouging must be stopped.
Californians overwhelmingly support rent control. The last referendum on rent control – Proposition 98 in 2008—was decided against landlords by a 22-point margin statewide. Support continues to grow as people see landlords imposing massive rent increases during an affordable housing crisis.
Sacramento politicians are another matter. The landlord lobby has invested millions into political candidates, making statewide change difficult. Nonetheless, ask even the most reluctant politicians if they believe a landlord should be free to double their constituents’ rents, and they will usually respond in the negative. In other words, they support rent control, they just won’t admit it.
Two things must happen to stop the current epidemic of rent gouging in California. Cities without rent control should adopt rent control laws. Equally important, the state Costa Hawkins law must be changed to allow cities to take action to protect all tenants without interference from Sacramento. Landlords have had a 20-year period of windfall profits thanks to Costa Hawkins. Tenants statewide must organize against this special interest law that is allowing rent gouging and abuse of tenants.
Say YES to Rent Control
With rents rising astronomically in the Bay Area and beyond, "rent control" is no longer a dirty word, it's a necessity. Only a handful of cities in the region have a rent control ordinance, which protects tenants from rent gouging and ensure landlords receive a fair return on their investment. While policy wonks dispute the "efficiency" of such measures, protections like this are wildly popular with residents and effective on the ground in stabilizing neighborhoods. Grassroots groups all over the Bay have been organizing recently to make their voices heard.
In Richmond, Contra Costa County, residents are being priced out. According to a recent report, 37-percent of all Richmond renters earn less than $35,000 annually and spend more than 30-percent of their income on housing, the report indicated.
Tenants at two large apartment complexes in Richmond are going on a rent strike after their landlord demanded they pay a 20% increase in rent. With support from our allies at ACCE, these tenants are putting themselves on the line to say "enough is enough. They are demanding the city pass a rent control ordinance to help other tenants in the community. You can join them in fighting back against landlord greed by sending a message to the Richmond City Council in support of Rent Control.
In San Mateo County, with support from Peninsula Interfaith Action, Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County, Burlingame Advocates for Renter Protections, and others, activists in Burlingame, Redwood City, and San Mateo have been on the march.
As a result of such efforts, early last month, the San Mateo County Manager urged County Supervisors to study solutions to homelessness and displacement: a living wage ordinance, and a rent stabilization ordinance. Rising rents in the area are driving out working families, who increasingly have to commute long distances to their jobs in Silicon Valley.
In Richmond, Contra Costa County, residents are being priced out. According to a recent report, 37-percent of all Richmond renters earn less than $35,000 annually and spend more than 30-percent of their income on housing, the report indicated.
Tenants at two large apartment complexes in Richmond are going on a rent strike after their landlord demanded they pay a 20% increase in rent. With support from our allies at ACCE, these tenants are putting themselves on the line to say "enough is enough. They are demanding the city pass a rent control ordinance to help other tenants in the community. You can join them in fighting back against landlord greed by sending a message to the Richmond City Council in support of Rent Control.
 |
| Richmond tenants demand housing justice and rent control |
In San Mateo County, with support from Peninsula Interfaith Action, Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County, Burlingame Advocates for Renter Protections, and others, activists in Burlingame, Redwood City, and San Mateo have been on the march.
As a result of such efforts, early last month, the San Mateo County Manager urged County Supervisors to study solutions to homelessness and displacement: a living wage ordinance, and a rent stabilization ordinance. Rising rents in the area are driving out working families, who increasingly have to commute long distances to their jobs in Silicon Valley.
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| Tenants in Burlingame protest rent increases |
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| Tenants in Redwood City march to demand Rent Control |
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| Tenants and allies in San Mateo hold a vigil for renters who need rent stabilization |
Organizing Tenants: Housing Long Beach
In 2015 Housing Long Beach joined as a new member organization of Tenants Together. In 2002, with a growing population and shrinking resources, a group of concerned Long Beach residents and advocates got together to respond to the housing crisis in our city. With 58% of Long Beach residents as renters, and three-quarters of the housing stock greater than 30 years in age and in deteriorated conditions, working families in Long Beach needed safe and affordable places to live. The coalition continued to organize and advocate for equitable housing policies, and in 2009 formed a board, hired staff and became Housing Long Beach. The organization was incorporated in 2011. Read more...
What do you think is the #1 issue facing renters in your community?
The answer to this question is very simple = retaliation. In the City of Long Beach we do not benefit from any local protections for renters. Over the years, the lack of protections has created a heavy blanket of fear for most renters we have met and worked with. People are just scared to report any safety or habitability issues to their landlords because of the fear of retaliation in the form of eviction or rent increases. So, many folks just keep quiet and try to remedy the situations themselves to no avail.
How does your organization help?
One way we support our renters is by informing and educating them on their rights (usually state level). At the same time, we are obliged to inform and educate them of the risks in upholding those rights. We educate them on the Code Enforcement system set in place in our city and how they may access these city services. Once again, informing them of what it entails and what may ensue.
As organizers, we engage those interested in joining the movement for more renters rights in our city. We provide them with education, training, workshops and outreach opportunities to take action and raise their voices. We prepare them to speak at City Council meetings, to meet their council members and demand changes.
We provide whatever support we can and connect our residents to whatever services we can to help them defend themselves and take recourse for their injustices.
What are some priority campaigns for this year?
We are at the tail end of a very important campaign to bring more tenant protections to our renters. We have been working for the last 2.5 years on a campaign to bring the Rent Escrow Account Program (REAP) to Long Beach. At the end of last year’s campaign, we were able to have City Council request an investigation of the viability of the REAP policy in Long Beach. The city staff has just reported their findings, which were unfavorable. However, we are working with our community and city leaders to bring this report forth in the public eye, so we can have a healthy discussion and deliberation about the need for a program which protects our residents from retaliatory slumlords.
Therefore, the results of the REAP campaign will dictate the next steps for the organization. In the meantime, we are beginning our outreach and research on incorporating more tenant organizing to our work.
Why do you think it’s important to support a statewide movement for renters’ rights?
Our housing crisis, be it with the lack of affordable housing, tenant rights, or habitability is a state wide issue, if not a nationwide issue. Housing and the quality of which, is directly tied to educational, health, and economic outcomes. The housing crisis will effect all of our surrounding communities and cities across the state. Therefore, our residents believe we should be involved in regional and statewide movements, because our issues are our neighbor’s issues and vice versa.
Our residents firmly believe we need not only organizer and build power within our own communities. They also believe it is important we all help one another for well-being of everyone in the county and state. Our residents are excited to learn and grow around tackling statewide work, as they lay in faith in that what happens on the state level, will benefit them as well.
What do you think is the #1 issue facing renters in your community?
The answer to this question is very simple = retaliation. In the City of Long Beach we do not benefit from any local protections for renters. Over the years, the lack of protections has created a heavy blanket of fear for most renters we have met and worked with. People are just scared to report any safety or habitability issues to their landlords because of the fear of retaliation in the form of eviction or rent increases. So, many folks just keep quiet and try to remedy the situations themselves to no avail.
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| Rally at MLK Day 2015 |
How does your organization help?
One way we support our renters is by informing and educating them on their rights (usually state level). At the same time, we are obliged to inform and educate them of the risks in upholding those rights. We educate them on the Code Enforcement system set in place in our city and how they may access these city services. Once again, informing them of what it entails and what may ensue.
As organizers, we engage those interested in joining the movement for more renters rights in our city. We provide them with education, training, workshops and outreach opportunities to take action and raise their voices. We prepare them to speak at City Council meetings, to meet their council members and demand changes.
We provide whatever support we can and connect our residents to whatever services we can to help them defend themselves and take recourse for their injustices.
What are some priority campaigns for this year?
We are at the tail end of a very important campaign to bring more tenant protections to our renters. We have been working for the last 2.5 years on a campaign to bring the Rent Escrow Account Program (REAP) to Long Beach. At the end of last year’s campaign, we were able to have City Council request an investigation of the viability of the REAP policy in Long Beach. The city staff has just reported their findings, which were unfavorable. However, we are working with our community and city leaders to bring this report forth in the public eye, so we can have a healthy discussion and deliberation about the need for a program which protects our residents from retaliatory slumlords.
Therefore, the results of the REAP campaign will dictate the next steps for the organization. In the meantime, we are beginning our outreach and research on incorporating more tenant organizing to our work.
Why do you think it’s important to support a statewide movement for renters’ rights?
Our housing crisis, be it with the lack of affordable housing, tenant rights, or habitability is a state wide issue, if not a nationwide issue. Housing and the quality of which, is directly tied to educational, health, and economic outcomes. The housing crisis will effect all of our surrounding communities and cities across the state. Therefore, our residents believe we should be involved in regional and statewide movements, because our issues are our neighbor’s issues and vice versa.
Our residents firmly believe we need not only organizer and build power within our own communities. They also believe it is important we all help one another for well-being of everyone in the county and state. Our residents are excited to learn and grow around tackling statewide work, as they lay in faith in that what happens on the state level, will benefit them as well.
Fighting for Affordable Housing in Alameda: Renewed Hope Housing Advocates
Renewed Hope Housing Advocates joined as a new Tenants Together member organization in 2015. They work to promote the development of housing affordable to the majority of the people living in the Bay Area. Their President, Laura Thomas, answers a few questions about the work they do and why they think it's important to be a part of a state network fighting for renters' rights:
What do you think is the #1 issue facing renters in your community?
Well, rising rents is the No.1 issue for sure. That and the fact there is no rent stabilization regulations at all. Alameda has only gone as far as looking at an ordinance requiring landlords to show up and answer a complaint from a tenant filed with the Rent Review Advisory Commission, but the decision isn't binding.
How does your organization help?
Renewed Hope has helped renters by convening a committee which met throughout 2014; we also pushed for a rent stabilization policy to be included in the city's 2015-2023 Housing Element, which was not accepted; we then participated in a series of community discussions with landlords which are ongoing. With our credibility and history in Alameda, we are able to help the newly formed Alameda Renters Coalition understand and maneuver the political landscape and support their efforts as they begin to organize. We have quite forcefully made the argument to Alameda's council and civic leaders that you can't oppose both rent control and affordable housing in such a period of crisis.
What is your priority campaign for this year?
Our priorities are monitoring the development of Alameda Point where 25 percent affordable housing MUST be developed as a result of a suit we filed against the city in 2000. The danger is really from the no-growth crowd who elected the new mayor and one council member that they will forestall or hamper the effort to get the project off the ground. We must work hard on countering all the NIMBY arguments that no longer use crime and "people from Oakland" as reasons to be against new housing. Now it's traffic.
Why do you think it’s important to support a statewide movement for renters’ rights?
Renters need a political voice on a statewide level now more than ever. State tenant protections must be strengthened. Many landlords are breaking the law by not returning security deposits for bogus reasons. A strong voice for their rights at the state legislative level, to help enforce the law that exists and pass new ones is crucial. Despite a Democratic majority in the legislature, many issues around safe and decent housing seem to be a hard sell against corporate real estate interests. A strong organization is needed to counter that reality and it should make the argument that housing that is affordable has to be supported through rent limits and building new housing which should be subsidized by those who are creating the need with their expanding work forces but shoving the responsibility aside, ie. the technology companies.
What do you think is the #1 issue facing renters in your community?
Well, rising rents is the No.1 issue for sure. That and the fact there is no rent stabilization regulations at all. Alameda has only gone as far as looking at an ordinance requiring landlords to show up and answer a complaint from a tenant filed with the Rent Review Advisory Commission, but the decision isn't binding.
How does your organization help?
Renewed Hope has helped renters by convening a committee which met throughout 2014; we also pushed for a rent stabilization policy to be included in the city's 2015-2023 Housing Element, which was not accepted; we then participated in a series of community discussions with landlords which are ongoing. With our credibility and history in Alameda, we are able to help the newly formed Alameda Renters Coalition understand and maneuver the political landscape and support their efforts as they begin to organize. We have quite forcefully made the argument to Alameda's council and civic leaders that you can't oppose both rent control and affordable housing in such a period of crisis.
 |
| President Laura Thomas addresses the Alameda city council. |
What is your priority campaign for this year?
Our priorities are monitoring the development of Alameda Point where 25 percent affordable housing MUST be developed as a result of a suit we filed against the city in 2000. The danger is really from the no-growth crowd who elected the new mayor and one council member that they will forestall or hamper the effort to get the project off the ground. We must work hard on countering all the NIMBY arguments that no longer use crime and "people from Oakland" as reasons to be against new housing. Now it's traffic.
 |
| Alameda point |
Why do you think it’s important to support a statewide movement for renters’ rights?
Renters need a political voice on a statewide level now more than ever. State tenant protections must be strengthened. Many landlords are breaking the law by not returning security deposits for bogus reasons. A strong voice for their rights at the state legislative level, to help enforce the law that exists and pass new ones is crucial. Despite a Democratic majority in the legislature, many issues around safe and decent housing seem to be a hard sell against corporate real estate interests. A strong organization is needed to counter that reality and it should make the argument that housing that is affordable has to be supported through rent limits and building new housing which should be subsidized by those who are creating the need with their expanding work forces but shoving the responsibility aside, ie. the technology companies.
 |
| More on the history of fighting for affordable housing in Alameda... |
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