Refusal to repair can be considered harassment in Oakland, but before you get too jealous that Oakland finally got an Anti-Harassment Law – there is a BIG catch: tenants will have to enforce the law by suing landlords – the city has no enforcement mechanism at all. So even though Oakland now defines actions such as repeated bogus eviction attempts, refusal to make repairs, and threats to report renters to immigration as harassment, tenants without the means to hire an attorney might not benefit from the new rules.
Such additional protections against harassment have been discussed often but never developed by our elected leaders. San Francisco, East Palo Alto, Santa Monica and West Hollywood are other Rent Control cities that have similar laws. If Berkeley renters want such protections, they will have to organize like Oakland renters did!
There is also an exemption in Oakland for new construction.
See the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project for more Berkeley Areas!
In December, BTU wrote about a suggestion by the Housing Advisory Commission, spearheaded by new Councilperson Lori Droste, to lay the foundation to tax tenants on their rent control (“means testing”). The other City Council folks wisely either voted no or abstained on the item, so it is dead for the moment.
But here we have a study about this very issue by SF’s Anti-Eviction Mapping Project – it is fighting conjecture with fact – and we hope the Council and Housing Commission will review!
If you go to the Source data map, you can see data for Berkeley too!
“There are probably landlords in San Francisco who make less money than their tenants. But they are very much the exception and not the rule. That’s the conclusion of a new study by the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, which compares the median income of renters and property owners by census tract in San Francisco.
Let’s take a few examples. In Census Tract 176.01, South of Market, people who owned property had a median income of $111,330 in 2013. Renters had a median income of $17,396. Let’s move to the Mission, where there are increasingly wealthy renters. Median income for tenants? About $80,000. For landlords? About $154,000.” http://48hillsonline.org/2014/12/29/debunking-myth-poor-landlord/
After a vote of the Steering Committee, The Berkeley Tenants Union sent this letter to the East Bay Express on Thursday, October 9.
Jacquelyn McCormick is endorsed by the Berkeley Tenants Union because she is the only District 8 candidate to unequivocally support renters rights.
D8 candidate Mike Cohen just told the Berkeley Property Owners Association that he supports “means testing” – taking away rent control for anyone the government decides isn’t poor enough. Although we were impressed by candidate George Beier at our September 21 endorsements meeting when he cited specific occasions in which he had assisted renters in his neighborhood, Beier also told the landlords that he would consider means testing.
Your pick, Lori Droste, showed she is not ready for prime time by writing that she “would like to have more information on the ordinance” when asked if she supports rent control. If you don’t have knowledge about tenant protections in a city where 62% are renters, you should not serve on the City Council.
Rent control prevents speculators from making obscene profits and allows those without high incomes to live here long enough to become part of our community. Jacquelyn McCormick is only the “most conservative candidate” for District 8 if, by conservative, you mean that she wants Berkeley to remain an economically and socially diverse city.
Berkeley Tenants Union had a good turnout at our first endorsements forum in many many years. Please read candidate responses to the joint questionnaire sent by Berkeley Tenants Union and Berkeley Citizen Action to learn more about why the members who voted on Sunday chose these excellent candidates!
Please be sure to support these candidates – they are the best to further the issues that impact Berkeley Tenants. BTU will send you more info on how to get involved alongside other tenants and our friends as the campaign season moves along!
The Pro-Rent Control Slate, chosen at the 2014 Tenant Convention
Chang, Harr, Laverde-Levine, Selawsky and Townley http://berkeleyrentboard.org/
Rents in Berkeley are rising dramatically. What’s going on? Two things are creating upward pressure on both rent- and non-rent-controlled units. These phenomena are:
1) The skyrocketing rents in San Francisco, which push people across the Bay, and
2) The ongoing construction of expensive new (thus not rent-controlled) apartment housing in Berkeley.
If you’re a doctor or high-paid techie, no problem. But if you’re a teacher or postal worker, good luck! Berkeley is becoming a bedroom community of upper-middle class professionals.
From $1817 to $3465 1300 block of Euclid Ave
This one-bedroom unit was rented back in 2002 at $1,550 to one tenant. Its 2014 rent ceiling is $1,817.93. Had it remained rent-controlled under pre-Costa-Hawkins rules, the rent ceiling would be $1,353.
The owner recently filed a Vacancy Registration stating that the unit had been rented to a new tenant on July 1 for $3,465. Still listed as one bedroom, still rented to one tenant.
From $1250 to $3380 1200 block of Alcatraz Avenue
This one looks like a flip, and sure enough, some pretty big rent increases have been taken. Here is the history:
All three units were rented out by the previous owner in 2007/2008:
#A was rented out in 2007 at $1,250;
#B was rented out in 2008 at $1,000;
#C was rented out in 2008 at $450 (it is a studio, but this still seems like a below-market rent).
In 2008 #A was claimed exempt because it was rented out to a Section 8 tenant, and #C was claimed exempt as not available for rent. (No change reported for #B.)
In December 2012, the entire property changed hands, and all three units were claimed exempt as owner-occupied as of that date, probably in error.
Then, in May 2013, the property was sold to a new owner. And sure enough, in August of 2013: Rents more than twice those charged in 2007/08!
#A was rented for $3,380;
#B was rented for $2,380,
#C was rented for $1,080.
The new owner has listed the property for sale several times – this is from one recent real estate listing: “Currently Producing $6840 a month from rent. THE HIGHEST RETURN ON THE MARKET IN BERKELEY! Average rent per unit is $2280. Over 200 applicants prior to August 2013 placement of current tenants. There are no substitutes for good quality of life & peace of mind! Maybe that’s why an all cash million dollar offer was dismissed?”
From $3090 to $3690 1500 block of Walnut Street
This also seems to represent fairly big rent increases over the years, but it also needs to be said that the rent goes up as the number of tenants goes up.
In 2002, it was rented to 4 people for $2,200.
In 2005, it was rented to 2 people for $1,750.
In 2009, it was rented to 5 people for $3,090.
In 2012, it was rented to 7 people for $3,690.
Thus, not quite apples to apples. Without Costa-Hawkins rent increases, under Berkeley’s old system of rent control, the rent ceiling would be $1,326.
From $1600 to $3200 3000 block of College Ave
Two of the units have turned over and been fixed up. The tenant in the third unit, who had several cases before the Rent Board, recently passed away. We assume that in the near future the Board will receive a revised registration form raising the rent significantly.
While the owner has done substantial work on the property, it was purchased for a bargain price in 2008 and the owner only pays taxes on a value equal to the average single family home bought in Berkeley this year, while soon his rents will total Over $110,000 a Year for this triplex.
Unit 1
Before Costa Hawkins increase — $674.27.
After Costa Hawkins increase — $3,300.00 (8/1/13).
Unit 2
Before Costa Hawkins increase — $581.61.
After Costa Hawkins increase #1 — $1,600.00 (8/1/12).
After Costa Hawkins increase #2 — $3,200.00 (6/1/13).
Unit 3 (long-term rent controlled tenant) — $670.46.
Rent Prices Are Going Up, But Your Income Isn’t. Original chart with data source: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/rental-affordability-crisis-hud
It’s a national problem: the foreclosure crisis made former owners into renters, the federal government cut housing assistance, and now more than 28% of Americans pay more than half of their salaries for rent. Mother Jones: National Data on Rising Rents http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/rental-affordability-crisis-hud
Recently, San Francisco leaders changed the Ellis relocation payments law: speculators who buy a building to “go out of the rental business” will have to pay tenants the difference between their current rent and the market rent – times 24! Naturally, landlords have filed a lawsuit.
Now, SF activists are fighting the Ellis crisis with a ballot measure they call an “Anti-Speculation Tax.” The tax was first proposed by activist Supervisor Harvey Milk around the time that San Francisco got rent control – over 30 years ago! Today, SF’s Prop G is sponsored by four members of the Board of Supervisors and would impose a tax on buildings sold in the first five years after purchase, but exempt owner-occupied homes.
“Prop G would tax the entire value of the building, beginning at 24 percent if sold within one year of purchase. The rate would be less after each successive year, falling to 14 percent if sold five years out. It would not apply to owner-occupied buildings, so as long as the buyer moved into the property they could sell it within five years and not face the tax.” http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=69972
“…Additional Transfer Tax on Residential Property Sold Within 5 Years of Purchase seeks to discourage real estate speculators from buying up properties with the aim of flipping them, a process that tends to involve bringing down the hammer of the Ellis Act to evict long-term tenants.” http://www.sfbg.com/politics/2014/08/12/who-will-san-francisco-dems-back-november
The 2014 Rent Board Slate: (left to right) John Selawsky, Paola LaVerde, Katherine Harr, and James Chang. Not pictured: Jesse Townley
The Berkeley Tenant Convention on Sunday July 13 chose the five candidates most Highly Recommended by the Berkeley Tenants Union screener: incumbents Jesse Townley and Katherine Harr, former School Board Director John Selawsky, and first-time candidates Paola LaVerde and James Chang. Selawsky, Harr, and Chang all serve on the BTU steering committee.
Berkeley City Council Passes NAACP Recommendations “Ultimately, these measures will not be enough. They are a set of steps to stop the bleeding of lower-income residents from Berkeley, many of whom are people of color. But in the long run, the only effective way to combat gentrification is through the strict application of rent control.” http://www.dailycal.org/2014/07/14/berkeley-housing-vote-step-right-direction-miles-still-go/
No Rent Control? No Security Against Displacement! “When one unit in the predominantly artist-occupied complex was put on the market a couple months ago, an attorney who had her eye on the space offered to pay $2,650, or $300 above the rental listing price. The landlord, one of the original developers of the complex in 1990, accepted the offer. Wells’ landlord, who had recently inherited the property, got word of the unprecedented demand, and notified her that her rent would be raised as well, from $2,200 to $2,650 — a 20 percent increase — effective in September.Wells, and another tenant whose rent was also increased, have no choice but to leave.” http://www.berkeleyside.com/2014/07/03/is-the-tech-boom-putting-pressure-on-berkeley-rents/
SB1439 was amended so only San Francisco tenants would be protected, but it failed in committee at the California State Assembly because many Democrats joined Republicans in voting against the eviction protections.
Despite our best efforts and a broad-based coalition of support from tenants and allies, our bill for Ellis Act reform, SB1439 (Leno), failed to pass out of the California Assembly Housing & Community Development Committee. Democratic Assembly Members Sharon Quirk-Silva (D – Fullerton) and Cheryl Brown (D- San Bernardino) teamed up with Republicans Brian Maienschein (R – San Diego) and Beth Gaines (R – Roseville) to defeat SB 1439 (Leno), a modest bill to stop speculators from misusing California’s Ellis Act to evict long-term tenants. The bill failed on a 3-4 vote, with Assembly Members Ed Chau (D – Monterey Park), Tom Ammiano (D – San Francisco) and Mariko Yamada (D –Davis) voting to support the bill. The bill would have plugged a loophole that has allowed speculators to purchase apartment buildings and immediately evict long-term San Francisco tenants who are disproportionately elderly and disabled. With no real arguments against the bill, the real estate lobby relied on a strategy of misrepresentations and campaign donations to prevail.
Refusal to repair can be considered harassment in Oakland, but before you get too jealous that Oakland finally got an Anti-Harassment Law – there is a BIG catch: tenants will have to enforce the law by suing landlords – the city has no enforcement mechanism at all. So even though Oakland now defines actions such as repeated bogus eviction attempts, refusal to make repairs, and threats to report renters to immigration as harassment, tenants without the means to hire an attorney might not benefit from the new rules.
