A second Bay Area city is on the verge of approving binding arbitration – basically rent control in disguise.
The Mountain View City Council will take up the proposal at its Tuesday, March 15, meeting. The session starts at 6 p.m. in council chambers, 500 Castro St.
Mountain View’s consideration of binding arbitration comes on the heels of Alameda’s approval of the same policy, which it formally adopted Tuesday, March. 1.
Under this approach to settling rent disputes, a tenant can have a mediator decide how much rent can go up — if at all. This plainly puts a control on rents.
To prevent this form of rent control from spreading to Mountain View, it is crucial that council members hear directly from members of the rental housing industry. Just last year, the council voted down a rent control proposal, so helping the council members see that binding arbitration is a form of rent control may lead to its defeat.
What’s more, the city of Mountain View just implemented a “right to a lease” law, guaranteeing tenants the right to a fixed-term lease. The city should not rush into further regulations until it can measure the impacts of this ordinance on the housing market.