The latest incarnation of Richmond’s rent control ordinance would have tenants and landlords sharing the administrative costs of the program.
An earlier version of the ordinance, passed July 21, would have required landlords to bankroll the rent control program on their own, even if they have no rent controlled units. Administering rent control is expected to cost Richmond up to $2.2 million per year. Landlords would be billed between $170 and $230 per unit annually.
At a special meeting Friday, however, Vice Mayor Jael Myrick proposed allowing property owners to pass 40 percent of those costs to tenants.
“We should make it as fair as possible to landlords,” Myrick said Friday, according to this Contra Costa Times story.
The rent control and just cause eviction ordinance, the first in the Bay Area in decades, is expected to receive official ratification after a second reading at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The ordinance will take effect 30 days later — roughly three months earlier than originally planned. [See video from July 28 meeting]
Since the council gave rent control its greenlight, making Richmond the first Bay Area city to adopt rent control in decades, the pro-rent control group Tenants Together issued a statement celebrating the decision and touting a rent control toolkit that offers cities guidelines for implementing the policy.
Tom Bannon, CAA’s chief executive officer, argued against rent control as a guest on KQED radio’s talk show Forum.
The California Apartment Association, meanwhile, continues to battle rent control on several fronts. CAA’s efforts include commissioning an economic study expected to illuminate the negative impacts of rent control, including the deterioration of the existing rental housing stock in communities that institute this flawed policy.
Moreover, Tom Bannon, CAA’s chief executive officer, appeared as a guest on KQED radio’s talk show Forum, on which he argued against rent control during a debate with Dean Preston of Tenants Together. Click here to read about the show and download the audio.
Richmond, assuming rent control moves forward, will join about a half-dozen other Bay Area cities that have the policy. Under Richmond’s ordinance, rent control will apply to approximately 10,000 of the city’s 21,000 rental units. The just-cause portion of the ordinance will affect all 21,000.
Earlier start date for rent control proposed despite lack of economic analysis
Related content:
- Richmond: Tenants to pay 40% of fees from rent control, council rules (Contra Costa Times, Aug. 1)
- Richmond rent control could now take effect sooner (CAA, July 30)
- Rent control stalls in Richmond, at least for now (San Francisco Chronicle, July 30)
- Richmond: Council slowed by bickering over new rent control ordinance (Contra Costa Times, July 29)
- Call to action: Help stop rent control in Richmond (CAA, July 10)