Oakland Joins Berkeley and San Francisco in Regulating Tenant Buy-Out Agreements

An excerpt of an "East Bay Times" report published on 2/15/18 and written by Al Tayadon, describes a new "Move-Out Ordinance" that is supposed to go into effect on May 1, 2018 and was approved by the Oakland City Council on 2/6/18.  The Ordinance was co-sponsored by city councilman Dan Kalb and Abel Guillen and the City Attorney's office.

"A new ordinance requires Oakland landlords to tell tenants their rights before paying or giving them other compensation to move out.

The ordinance, approved by the City Council on Feb. 6, aims to regulate so-called 'move out' agreements that are often done to circumvent state and local legal requirements and restrictions. It requires landlords to submit the agreements to the city’s rent adjustment program.

'Oakland’s rising rents have exacerbated tensions between property owners and tenants residing in units that are rent-controlled or covered by Oakland’s just cause for eviction ordinance,” a report by the city attorney’s office says. 'By emptying their units, property owners can attempt to increase their return on their investment by selling the property or re-renting the units at a higher rate. Property owners who seek to expedite this process may enter into move-out agreements with tenants who are not aware of the full extent of their legal rights under state and local law.'

The ordinance is supposed to go into effect May 1, though city administrators may extend the date if the city’s forms will not be available by then. The ordinance does not apply to existing move-out agreements.

Councilman Dan Kalb, who co-sponsored the legislation with Councilman Abel Guillen and the city attorney’s office, said giving tenants a list of their rights and allowing them to back out of the agreements within 30 days 'evens the playing field.'"

To read the entire news article, click here.

To read a copy of the ordinance and the supplement to the ordinance, see the report and supplemental report from the City Attorney's office via the following link.