California Apartment Association

In mid-June, the city of Santa Rosa is expected to impose a moratorium on rent increases of more than 3 percent on the city’s older multifamily housing.

The measure, which won preliminary approval from the council Tuesday, May 10, is intended to limit rent increases while city staff drafts a permanent rent control and just-cause eviction ordinance, a process that could take several months.

Greenlighted on a 4-2 vote, the temporary ordinance applies the 3 percent rent cap cumulatively over a 12-month period. So, while the moratorium is in effect, a landlord who’s already increased rent by 3 percent or more during the prior year won’t be able to raise the rent again. The council has asked that the permanent ordinance also include a 3 percent annual rent cap.

Both the moratorium and any permanent rent control would only apply to multi-family units built prior to Feb. 1, 1995, which means single family homes and condominiums are exempt. Owner-occupied triplexes, and all duplexes, are exempt as well.

The council is expected to formally approve the rent moratorium Tuesday, May 17,  allowing it to take effect 31 days later, on June 18.  Although the interim ordinance is slated to last 45 days, the city could renew it until a permanent ordinance is adopted, creating uninterrupted rent control with a 3 percent limit.

Mallori Spilker, executive director of the California Apartment Association’s North Coast division, said the moratorium fails to address the root cause of high rents — the region’s lack of housing. Instead of adding to the housing supply — which is the real solution to the housing affordability crisis — rent control pushes property owners and investors away of communities, exacerbating the problem.

“Please don’t drive our housing providers out of Santa Rosa,” Spilker said, as reported in this Press-Democrat article.