News: North Bay
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Marin County is now taking applications for its COVID-19 rental assistance program. The program will focus first on eligible households with incomes that are below 30% of the area median income. For more information on the program, click here.
Tagged: COVID-19 Marin CountyNorth Bay
The Marin County Board of Supervisors will consider adopting a rent freeze in two census tracts with significant impacts from COVID-19.
If the board adopts the measure, all properties within Census Tract 1290 (Marin City) and Census Tract 1330 (Northern West Marin) will be subject to the rent freeze.
The California Apartment Association is mobilizing members to oppose this move.
“Rent control is not a solution,” said Alex Khalfin, vice president of public affairs for CAA. “Rather than adopting rent control policies, the board should focus on providing additional emergency rental assistance to tenants and landlords impacted by the pandemic.”… Read More
The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider banning nearly all evictions in the county.
Under the ordinance, landlords would be unable to terminate tenancies for lease violations, for owner move‐ins, or even to quit the rental housing business under the Ellis Act.
When a Santa Rosa tenant repeatedly violates the county’s COVID-19 health order, he or she could face a penalty for the transgression. But thanks to the California Apartment Association, the renter’s landlord will not.
That protection for rental property owners was part of an urgency ordinance adopted by the Santa Rosa City Council Aug. 11. The ordinance enables the city to enforce Sonoma County’s rules for preventing the spread of coronavirus and sets up a system for warnings and fines.
Wildfire-related protections against rent gouging will remain in effect for at least the rest of 2020 for several California counties.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Dec. 23 extended price-gouging protections until Dec. 31, 2020, for the following counties: Butte, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Napa, Santa Barbara, Sonoma and Ventura.
The governor’s order keeps in effect Penal Code Section 396, which makes it illegal to increase the price of many consumer goods and services, including that of rental housing, by more than 10% above pre-emergency levels.
Newsom’s office said the extended protections are intended to assist communities across the state recovering from devastating wildfires dating back to 2017. … Read More
Tagged: News Los AngelesNorth Bay
Citing the passage of AB 1482, the Larkspur City Council earlier this month rejected proposals to institute local “just cause,” rent control and rent-registry ordinances.
Since early September, the California Apartment Association’s North Bay staff has provided strong opposition to the city’s effort to adopt restrictive policies on rental units in in Larkspur, a small city in Marin County.
Testifying to the City Council, Alex Khafin, CAA’s vice president of public affairs for the North Bay, argued that “just cause eviction and rent-cap policies will have serious unintended consequences and will not provide a single additional unit of affordable housing,… Read More
Working with the California Apartment
Association, the Santa Rosa City Council has created a $100,000 fund to
compensate landlords should they lose money through their participation in the
Section 8 program.
Since early September, CAA North Bay staff has worked with the city of Santa Rosa on the establishment of this risk-mitigation program.
The Santa Rosa City Council decided to pursue a mandatory Section 8 ordinance Tuesday, but not before pledging to work with CAA to make the program more workable for local landlords.
The council advanced the ordinance on a 5-1 vote and is expected to formally approve the law after a second reading next month.
The measure will prohibit blanket policies against accepting Section 8 applicants, ban “No Section 8” ads, and make it illegal to deny a tenancy based solely on the tenant’s possession of a voucher.
The Santa Rosa City Council this week
postponed voting on an ordinance that would require that landlords consider
applicants with Section 8 housing vouchers.
The measure would prohibit blanket policies against accepting Section 8 applicants and make it illegal to deny a tenancy based on the tenant’s possession of a voucher.
Despite
strong opposition from the California Apartment Association, the San Rafael
City Council passed a “just cause” eviction and mandatory-mediation ordinance Monday
on a 3-1 vote.
The just-cause eviction
ordinance will prevent landlords from terminating tenancies without
proving that a specified cause exists. Such policies drag out the eviction
process and make it more difficult and costlier to terminate tenancies.
Mandatory mediation will be required
for rental increases exceeding 5 percent over a 12-month period and will
include single-family homes.