Berkeley Passes Tenants Protection Amendment

According to Major Jesse Arreguin in a March 14, 2017 recommendation to the City Council, city leaders had been considering a tenant protection ordinance in Berkeley since 2016 in response to tenants rights advocates and significant changes in the rental market. Quoting from the Mayor's memorandum,

"In this housing market, where rents are increasing dramatically, there is a huge incentive for owners to force out long-term tenants in order to receive a higher market rent.  There have been an increasing number of cases of tenant harassment in recent years in Berkeley,  Some renters do not raise habitability issues with their owners or with city inspectors for fear of retaliation. Some renters have also been subject to constant disruptive behavior as a means to constructively evict.  Some have also received verbal or written threats of eviction, with no legal basis."

San Francisco adopted a Tenant Harassment policy in 2008. Oakland also adopted a Tenant Protection Ordinance in 2014 which provides the tenant a private right to sue based on the TPO or a legal action can be initiated by the City Attorney.  

The Tenant Protection amendment in Berkeley can be found here under B.M.C. chapter 13.79.060.

Interestingly, landlords are now required to provide a notice regarding the provisions of Section 13.79.060 to all Tenants using the required form prescribed by the City staff, at the beginning of a tenancy and with any notice of termination of tenancy. Failure to provide said notice shall be a defense in any unlawful detainer action.

Uniform Relocation Payments Plan Passed in Oakland!

On November 8, 2017, the City Council voted to adopt a modification to the Oakland Municipal Ordinance to award uniform relocation payments for no-fault evictions such as owner move-in evictions. Click here to read a news report for more information.

Read the blog post on November 7, 2017 for more information about specific changes to the code relating to uniform relocation payments. 

This is another historic move for the City of Oakland, stimulated by an escalating rents in the local market and advocacy from tenants rights groups, and championed by Ms. Rebecca Kaplan and City Councilmen Dan Kalb.  Hear, hear!

Oakland City Council Meets to Decide on a Uniform Schedule of Relocation Payments for No-Fault Evictions

The full City Council will meet this evening to decide upon Rebecca Kaplan's proposed ordinance. This ordinance would set Ellis Act and all no-fault evictions to a uniform schedule of relocation payments as follows:

$6,500 per studio/one bedroom units
$8,000 per two bedroom units
$9,875 per three or more bedroom units

Low income, elderly or disabled tenants and/or households with minor children may be entitled to $2,500 additional in relocation payments under this new proposal.

Relocation payments for temporary relocations (such as code enforcement mandated relocations) currently codified would newly extend to condominium conversions.

These proposed relocation payments, if enacted, would increase annually according to the inflation rate (e.g. the Consumer Price Index.)

While I fully support Ms. Kaplan's proposal, residents in Berkeley who are protected by rent-control receive far more generous relocation payments but Oakland's proposal probably reflects a more diverse and lower economic basis, and attempts to achieve a fair balance between tenant's rights and landlord's rights.

To review the proposed ordinance, please click here. Better yet, attend the City Council meeting tonight at 5:30 p.m.

Finally, Kaplan and City Councilperson Dan Kalb are proposing a moratorium on evictions due to substantial rehabilitation, another glaring loophole in Oakland's municipal code. Click here to review a recent report in the East Bay Times.

Tenants Reach a $3.5 Jury Verdict in San Francisco

and the City Attorney assesses an additional $2.7 Million in government fines for 1,612 violations of law.  See article featured in SF Weekly.

California Pet Rescue and Adoption Act Signed into Law

Governor Jerry Brown recently signed AB 485 into law requiring pet stores to forgo selling puppies purchased from puppy mills to retailing pets obtained from California animal shelters. Pets include puppies and dogs, cats and kittens, and rabbits which will arrive at the retail outlets already spayed/neutered and vaccinated.

This is a win/win for shelter animals and to help discourage puppy mills where dogs are bred and raised in horrendous conditions, conditions documented in the film "Dog by Dog."

Each year, tens of thousands of shelter animals are killed due to lack of shelter space and available homes. This new law is not only designed to provide good homes to animals but will help to alleviate pressure on county budgets and California taxpayers.

Soaring rents, evictions, tenants rally in Oakland to close landlord loopholes in Just Cause protections

Click here to read about the Tuesday, 9/26/2017 tenant's rally in Oakland to protest loopholes in the Oakland Municipal Code as it relates to evictions with the "just cause" of substantial rehabilitation and owner move-ins.

OAKLAND WAREHOUSE COALITION and CENTRO LEGAL de la RAZA team up to RALLY FOR TENANTS RIGHTS

12pm - RALLY FOR TENANTS RIGHTS 1:30pm- CITY COUNCIL OPEN FORUM  We're teaming up with Centro Legal de la Raza in solidarity with their clients the JDW Tenants' Association. Members occupy 13 buildings which their owner, JDW Enterprises, is attempting to exempt from rent control.  There are many loopholes in rent control, but JDW's weapon of choice here is Substantial Rehabilitation. Normally reserved for decrepit buildings that have been fully refurbished,

JDW is claiming this exemption despite the fact that they haven't done the quantity of upgrades required to qualify. While tenants are hopeful for their upcoming hearing at the Rent Board, we all feel that this loophole should be forever banished from our Rent Adjustment Ordinance.  More details in the recent East Bay Express article. Here are the joint Oakland Warehouse Coalition / Centro Legal de la Raza demands for City Council in this legislative season, which we will breeze through at the rally, then march right in to the Community & Economic Development Committee at 1:30 pm and do the same!  Grab any of these for talking points and make your voice heard in Committee by signing up to speak at Open Forum. Close the Substantial Rehabilitation loophole that allows landlords to exempt units from rent control with minor repairs; End the owner-occupied duplex/triplex exemption from rent control and Just Cause; Require landlords to pay relocation funds for all no-fault evictions, including owner move-in evictions; Require landlords to pay relocation funds when they raise rent above 10 percent and tenants are forced to move out; Pass protections for tenants facing unfair buyout offers; Add tenant protection plans to the Building Department’s permitting process, including all non-conforming residential properties. Require immediate notification by the City to all occupants of a property when a permit application has been filed, an inspection has been scheduled, or a notice of violation has been sent; Create a routine code inspection program that prioritizes health and safety while guaranteeing no loss of housing Change Code Enforcement policy to protect existing tenants: Stop issuing notices that call for discontinuance of residential use when there is no immediate life safety concern; Prohibit discrimination based on source of income or Section 8 status; and Increase funding for proactive universal enforcement of all Oakland tenant protection laws.