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It’s now up to election officials to determine whether a rent control initiative has qualified for the November ballot in Mountain View.
On Tuesday, June 14, the Mountain View Tenants Coalition submitted more than 7,100 signatures to the city clerk.
The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters will now count and check the validity of the signatures. The coalition needed 4,671 registered voters to sign their petition to qualify the initiative for the ballot.
The California Apartment Association is closely monitoring this process to ensure it follows procedures outlined in the California Election Code.
The measure would impose rent control… Read More
CAA Tri-County members and staff this week engaged with the community over ways to promote affordable housing in Redwood City.
On May 24, nearly 100 representatives from the rental housing industry — from small independent owners to larger property management firms — took part in the discussion, part of a workshop hosted by Redwood City’s Housing and Human Concerns Committee.
The event included presentations from a panel covering the Bay Area’s approaches to affordable housing.
One of the panelists, CAA Tri-County Government Affairs Director Rhovy Lyn Antonio, spoke about the importance of communication, collaboration, and compliance when exploring policy proposals.… Read More
Tagged: Affordable housing Tri-County
Beginning June 1, 2016, rental agreements for properties with wood-burning heaters or fireplaces throughout the San Francisco Bay Area must include a document describing the health hazards from burning wood or any solid fuel as a source of heat.
The disclosure document is required within the boundaries of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which includes all of the following counties: Napa, Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco and Marin, and part of Solano and Sonoma counties. Exact boundaries can be found here.
The disclosure requirement is part of the air quality district’s wood smoke rule,… Read More
Stricter rent control in San Jose is now scheduled to take effect next month, but much unfinished business remains in revising the city’s long-standing rent law.
On Tuesday, the council voted 9-2 to implement its upcoming 5 percent annual cap on rent increases beginning June 17. The current limit is 8 percent.
The changes will affect about 44,000 apartments already under rent control through the city’s Apartment Rent Ordinance. While a June implementation date is sooner than many property owners expected, it could have been worse.
One councilman, Raul Peralez, attempted to implement the changes immediately, a move that CAA… Read More
Tagged: Rent Control Tri-County
The San Jose City Council next week will consider an aggressive timeline for rolling out harsher rent control policies.
The implementation date and other issues related to San Jose’s Apartment Rent Ordinance will come up when the council meets Tuesday, May 10.
Two weeks ago, the City Council voted 6-5 to lower maximum annual rent increases on rent controlled units from 8 percent to 5 percent.
City officials had been considering a moratorium on rent growth until the harsher rules take effect, but according to the San Jose Mercury News, that idea is being shelved.
“We decided that it might… Read More
Tagged: Rent Control Tri-County
More than 1,500 rental housing professionals descended upon the Santa Clara Convention Center this spring for CAA Connect, California’s premier multifamily conference and expo.
The California Apartment Association’s April 5 event featured more than 175 booths with exhibitors covering a wide range of services, from roofing to landscaping to employment staffing.
The expo floor was teeming with activity as soon as the doors opened at 9 a.m.
Meanwhile, seminars got underway in nearby ballrooms. By 4 p.m., CAA had offered 15 classes that covered topics from bedbugs to fair housing issues to social media.
Throughout the day, a number of… Read More
San Jose’s long-standing cap on rent increases will soon get tighter.
On a 6-5 vote, the San Jose City Council early Wednesday approved lowering the maximum annual increase on rent-controlled units from 8 percent to 5 percent. This will affect about 43,000 units, or one-third of the city’s rental housing supply. The changes are expected to be ratified later this year and take effect no later than Jan. 1, 2017.
While not as onerous as the housing department’s proposal to tie rent control to inflation, lowering the price ceiling to 5 percent remains a bad policy change.
“The council found… Read More
Tagged: Rent Control Tri-County
The San Jose City Council on Tuesday is expected to vote on proposed changes to its rent control ordinance that could bring economic instability to renters and property owners while failing to address the underlying causes of rising market rents.
Possibilities include lowering the current 8 percent annual cap on rent increases, a move favored by Mayor Sam Liccardo. On the other hand, the city’s housing department recommends tying allowable rent increases to inflation, using the consumer price index.
The California Apartment Association opposes both options and encourages its members to speak out at next week’s council meeting, scheduled for… Read More
Tagged: Rent Control Tri-County
Once again, the San Mateo City Council has rejected a rent control proposal — this time in the form of an onerous relocation-assistance program.
The City Council’s decision Monday came after three hours of public testimony from local property owners, managers and real estate professionals about the dangers of the proposal.
The relocation-assistance ordinance would have forced rental housing providers to keep rent increases below 10 percent or face paying up to $21,500 for residents to vacate the unit – even after the end of a lease term.
“This proposal takes from one group and gives to another; taking rights… Read More
Rebuffed at city halls in several Northern California cities, tenant advocates are increasingly turning to the November ballot in their push for strict rent control measures.
One week ago, tenant advocates in San Mateo began efforts to qualify a rent control-related ballot measure for the November 2016 election. This filing came just one day after the San Mateo City Council voted 3-2 against rent control and a just-cause eviction policy.
Moreover, the San Mateo filing came just days after tenant advocates in Burlingame and Mountain View filed similar measures, and renter advocate groups in Richmond and Alameda also are seeking… Read More