California Apartment Association

The Lafayette City Council on Monday is expected to consider a number of bad policies for the multifamily housing industry, including rent control.

The council also is likely to consider a moratorium on rent increases — and perhaps a just-cause for eviction measure, which would make it difficult to evict problem tenants, including those endangering other residents.

The California Apartment Association is encouraging its members to testify at the meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 25 at the Lafayette Library & Learning Center.

It is important that local members of the rental housing industry remind the council that rent control:

• Isn’t an affordable housing program; it will NOT build one new unit of housing.
• Provides a subsidy based on how long someone has lived in a unit, not their need for subsidized housing.
• Won’t bring rents down. Over time it actually increases rents. Look at the rents in other cities with rent control: San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley.
• Does nothing to address the housing shortage; it will not make housing less expensive.
• Limits rental property owners’ ability to maintain and make improvements to their properties.

Property owners have invested in Lafayette. Instead of blaming rental housing providers for the lack of affordable housing, the council should focus on creating more diverse housing opportunities.

If you cannot attend the meeting, please call or email Lafayette City Council members and ask them not to punish rental property owners in their efforts to solve the city’s housing crisis.

Council contacts: 

Mark Mitchell, mayor, mmitchell@lovelafayette.org
Mike Anderson, vice mayor, manderson@lovelafayette.org
Brandt Andersson, council member, bandersson@lovelafayette.org
Traci Reilly, council member, treilly@lovelafayette.org
Don Tatzin, council member, dtatzin@lovelafayette.org