Tag: accessory dwelling

By Posted on Posted in Issues

File Oct 14, 8 58 41 PMGreat Summary of the Short Term Rentals Issue
“Almost everyone agrees that there’s nothing wrong with renting out a spare bedroom to travelers, and there’s not even much harm in renting your entire house for a month or two if you’re on vacation and would like to earn a little extra income. But what was once a small, on-the-margins practice of occasionally sharing one’s home with travelers for a few bucks has morphed into a behemoth and avaricious global marketplace for transforming residential housing into hotels… It’s harming renters; it’s helping drive up the cost of rental housing by taking homes and apartments off the rental market; and it’s upending the character of neighborhoods.”
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/turning-housing-into-hotels/Content?oid=4499687

Housing Advisory Commission on Vacation Rentals
“The commission passed six proposals that are in accordance with seven of nine guidelines referred to it by Berkeley City Council. It chose to take no action on whether a unit may be rented for more than 90 days without a host present or how to penalize hosts for regulation violations.”
http://www.dailycal.org/2015/10/04/housing-advisory-commission-makes-short-term-rent-recommendations/

Students Suffer In Housing Crunch
UC Berkeley’s alumni magazine covered the student housing crisis – but failed to note that it’s folks renting out housing on Airbnb that is taking away permanent homes and contributing to making housing more expensive for all!
“Radio producer Liza Veale has been using Airbnb, the short-term rental company, to rent out three rooms in her parent’s Elmwood home for the past three years. It’s one of a reported 1,162 Airbnb units in Berkeley. At first, she didn’t understand why so many students were renting out a room for roughly $1,000 a month.”
http://alumni.berkeley.edu/california-magazine/just-in/2015-10-14/crammed-berkeleys-housing-zone-students-get-creative-and

Berkeley’s Short Term Rentals law is expected to be discussed at the planning commission on November 4.

San Francisco’s Prop F – “The Airbnb Law”
BTU has endorsed San Francisco’s Prop F. We hope our City makes a law that can, and will, be enforced – so we don’t have to do a ballot measure here!
“Senator Dianne Feinstein, a fierce foe for Airbnb and its ilk, is in favor of Prop F., which “closes loopholes and provides effective enforcement tools.” She said the current law is unworkable and unenforceable, and guts zoning regulations while incentivizing “illegal conversion of residences to de facto hotel rooms.” She said, classifying Prop F. as a “common sense change.”
http://sfist.com/2015/08/31/sue_thy_neighbor_airbnb_prop_f_and.php

“Current law requires hosts to register with the city, but only 618 have done so, the planning department said. Airbnb has 4,238 local hosts with 5,459 listings, while HomeAway/VRBO has about 1,000 listings and FlipKey has 359, a Chronicle investigation found.”
http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Would-SF-Prop-F-spur-Airbnb-suits-with-neighbor-6472468.php

Berkeley Seismic Retrofits: Cup Half Full?
“The retrofitted buildings, which number 145 at latest count, account for 1,591, or just under half, of the 2,841 apartments in buildings identified as particularly vulnerable to earthquakes.”
http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_28930420/berkeley-more-than-half-soft-story-buildings-retrofitted

San Francisco and Los Angeles Retrofits
San Francisco plans to allow rent increases to pay for retrofits. So far, Berkeley hasn’t done that. Los Angeles plans to require retrofit of concrete buildings as well as soft story ones – Berkeley hasn’t done that either.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-quake-san-francisco-20151006-htmlstory.html

Foreclosure Crisis Not Over
“…The California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) confirmed that the pension fund invested $660 million in two different funds managed by Lone Star, and that the company has used the money to buy up distressed home loans, foreclose on the homeowners, and resell the homes.”
http://m.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/california-teachers-have-been-financing-evictions/Content?oid=4526962

By Posted on Posted in Issues

IMG_1151The Berkeley Rent Board won an important case regarding eviction threats and OMI evictions where the owner never moved in. The California Court of Appeal supported the Berkeley regulation that resets rent for new tenants at the lower controlled rent if the previous tenant moved within a year of getting an Owner Move-In notice.

In this case, a tenant who rented at 1807 Addison for 28 years and had refused informal requests to move finally got a formal eviction notice, so she made a deal, got some money, and moved. Then the owner rescinded the OMI notice. The tenants who moved in challenged their rent – which was more than double the old rent – under regulation 1016.

The regulation addresses withdrawn eviction notices for owner occupancy and states, “…if the tenant vacates within one year of the date of service of the notice, the tenancy is presumed to have been terminated by the owner as a result of the notice. The rental rate for the next tenancy established in the vacated unit shall be no more than the maximum allowed under the Rent Ordinance for the tenant who vacated.”

The Rent Board called the court decision a “victory for local control at a time when gentrification purges valued members of our community.” The Court referred to the landlord Jason Mak’s gambit as “subterfuge.”

Rent Board Press Release:
“The court ruled that when a landlord uses an eviction notice as “negotiating leverage” to secure an agreement that the tenant would “voluntarily vacate” the unit, the tenant did not actually vacate voluntarily.”
Mak press release (9-8-15)

Court Decision:
“The finding that the tenancy was terminated pursuant to the termination notice can hardly be questioned, notwithstanding the attempt to mischaracterize the situation in the agreement that Burns agreed to sign. Maintaining the rent level of the former tenant is a rational and proportional deterrent to the use of such an artifice in the future.”
Mak Omi decision reg 1016

In the Papers:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_28777456/berkeley-court-finds-property-owner-made-false-made

Tenants In the News

Several of these stories were sent in by BTU members:

BERKELEY

Berkeley Owners Claim Elected Officials Don’t Represent Their Interests
http://www.dailycal.org/2015/07/06/property-owners-should-be-involved-in-shaping-berkeley-housing-policy/

Development: BARF Invited, Berkeley Tenants Not
http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_28596764/berkeley-residents-wary-6-story-adeline-street-mixed

SAN FRANCISCO

Removal of Units From Housing Market
The Housing Balance Report shows the city added 6,559 affordable housing units between 2004 and 2014. But during the same period, 5,470 apartments were “removed from protected status” through a variety of “no fault” evictions allowed by state law.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-rent-controlled-apartments-lost-as-fast-as-6380744.php

Vacation Rentals Struggle Continues in SF
Tired of relying on their Supervisors – who crafted a law that city staff explained was unenforceable, then weakened that law a few months later – tenants and hotel workers in SF have joined forces to write a ballot measure.
http://ballotpedia.org/City_of_San_Francisco_Initiative_to_Restrict_Short-Term_Rentals_%28November_2015%29

Chronicle does Five-part Series on Impact of Short Term Rentals
http://www.sfchronicle.com/airbnb-impact-san-francisco-2015/#1

CALIFORNIA

El Cerrito: Low Income Renters Displaced at RV Park
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/low-income-tenants-to-be-directly-displaced-by-development-in-el-cerrito/Content?oid=4402578

Healdsburg Continues Ban on Airbnb
And why isn’t this a no-brainer for Berkeley’s Planning Commission too?
“The City Council took little time Monday evening in unanimously upholding a ban on vacation rentals in residential areas, mainly in an effort to preserve the city’s housing for residents and workers — not visitors. “Anything that takes away from potential long-term rental stock is a non-starter,” said Mayor Shaun McCaffery, noting that the lack of affordable housing has risen to the top of the civic agenda with a recent wave of escalating rents and evictions of low-income tenants.”
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/4353074-181/healdsburg-reaffirms-ban-on-vacation

Sacramento Looking into Vacation Rentals
“Sacramento is considering allowing landlords to rent out homes or rooms up to 30 days a year.”
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2015/08/13/how-sacramento-s-airbnb-proposal-stacks-up.html

By Posted on Posted in Issues

IMG_shirtBerkeley Tenants Union will hold our quarterly member potluck on Wednesday July 8th. There will be free tenant counseling from 6:30 to 7:30 PM, updates on demolitions and short term rentals regulations, and a roundtable discussion about enforcement of safety and habitability concerns for tenants.

Demolition Decision Sets Bad Precedents

Learn more about what happened at the Zoning Board at our quarterly member potluck on July 8th.

ZAB Grants Demolition…
“Some speakers at the meeting were concerned that the owner of the building deliberately worsened its condition in order to get approval for its demolition. John Selawsky, a substitute for Sophie Hahn and the only ZAB member to vote no on the use permit, said the building showed signs of deliberate neglect. Cliff Orloff, managing partner of developer OPHCA LLC, agreed to let the Berkeley Fire Department conduct training exercises in the building in 2014.”
http://www.dailycal.org/2015/06/26/zoning-adjustments-board-approves-student-housing-complex-on-durant-avenue/

…Despite Strong Public Protest
“Earlier this week, in an email regarding the project, a UC Berkeley student who said she used to live at 2631 Durant said tenants had been required by the owner to move out by a certain date, and that conditions had been poor.“When I was signing my lease I was told that I was signing under the condition that I would move out on May 31, 2014. We were told that the building was going to be torn down and developed,” wrote Nicole Yeghiazarian.
“The building was kept in awful shape because they did not want us to stay. When I moved into my apartment, there was mold. The kitchen was filthy with food stains around the stove.… Other tenants I talked to had similar complaints of conditions inside and outside of their units being dilapidated. It really felt like they were doing the bare minimum to not be sued, but wanted to make our conditions unpleasant enough that we would move out.” Added local resident Tree Fitzpatrick, in an email to the zoning board, “To grant this project as requested is to condone demolition by neglect.”
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2015/06/25/berkeley-zoning-board-to-consider-demolition-on-durant/

Short Term Rentals

We have heard that legal service providers like the East Bay Community Law Center are seeing more attempted evictions for renters who sublet for the short term on services like Airbnb. Currently, the Berkeley proposal to legalize such rentals may allow renters to sublet this way as long as the place is their home. But that doesn’t mean doing so won’t be a violation of their lease – it depends on the agreement. Renters should read the fine print, and remember the Rent Ordinance prohibits charging more than a prorated portion of the controlled rent.
Below is the document some folks currently violating Berkeley’s ban on such rentals are presenting to the Planning Commission, who will hold a hearing soon regarding the potential new laws and taxes in Berkeley.
We have just a few corrections: Regulations are not “being passed” – the current prohibition is being lifted for some users. Therefore, the number of short term rentals will not be “cut,” and no law-abiding citizens will see their “livelihood” impacted. These new regulations will not reduce any legal income, they will only legalize a currently illegal activity for some but not all users. It’s like saying the pot dealer on the corner is going to be put out of business by the legalization of medical marijuana!
2015-07-01_Communications_Berkeley Home Sharers_Recommendation on Revisions

Landlords Favor Allowing Hotels Anywhere, Unless Run By A Renter
“Sid Lakireddy, president of the Berkeley Property Owners Association, said he doesn’t think the use of Airbnb among tenants is widespread. Lakireddy believes that property owners should be allowed to use Airbnb, but not tenants.
“It’s a lot of work for a property owner to do Airbnb, and if they feel like they can make more doing it, I don’t think we should stop them,” he said. “If a tenant is doing it, that’s wrong because they’re using somebody else’s property to make a profit.”
http://www.dailycal.org/2015/06/21/city-considers-lifting-restrictions-on-short-term-rentals-while-practice-abounds/

Council Passes Referral Designed to Protect Rental Housing Stock
“The proposal, introduced by Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmember Lori Droste, would legalize rentals not exceeding 14 consecutive days and would tax hosts in the same way as hotels. Under the proposed regulations, the property must be occupied by the owner or tenant for at least nine months of the year and can be rented out no more than 90 days if the host is not present.”
http://www.dailycal.org/2015/06/25/city-council-refers-short-term-rentals-proposal-planning-housing-advisory-commissions/

San Francisco Hires 6 to Crack Down on Illegal Hotels
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/morning_call/2015/07/san-francisco-airbnb-law-enforcement-office-hosts.html

Paris Neighborhood Had More Airbnb Guests Than Actual Residents
“During summer 2014, 66,320 people stayed on Airbnb in the neighborhood’s two arrondissements, slightly more than the 64,795 who actually live in them, according to 2012 figures. The popularity of tourist rentals also made it a target of French housing inspectors. In May, inspectors made surprise early-morning inspections that turned up roughly 100 potentially illegal apartments.”
http://graphics.wsj.com/how-airbnb-is-taking-over-paris/

Balcony Collapse Highlights Problems with Code Enforcement

Code enforcement complaints and missing inspection forms at Library Gardens highlight the need to revamp Berkeley’s Rental Housing Safety Program. Currently, the program is a little meaningless. Landlords have to pay a fee and do inspections each year, but they don’t have to turn in the forms to the City. Issues about inspections and habitability will be the topic of a BTU member roundtable at our quarterly meeting on July 8th.

Missing Inspection Forms at Library Gardens
“Prior to July 1st, city officials say Greystar provided the wrong inspection records, failing to use the form required by the city. In a letter to Greystar, the city noted that the self-inspections were also missing required signatures and dates.”
http://wn.ktvu.com/story/29458314/2-investigates-missing-incomplete-safety-inspections-after-berkeley-balcony-collapse

Mayor Says New Housing Is Safe
“Berkeley code enforcement inspectors might not have been previously aware of Library Gardens’ failure to perform safety inspections. Those records are not required to be filed with the city unless a code inspector asks for them. Bates said it was unreasonable to mandate increased city inspection of rentals, given the city’s budget, but believed newer apartment buildings are not apt to present many hazards”.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-balcony-inspection-report-20150629-story.html

Balcony Collapse Spotlights Dry Rot
Yes, but when will they realize we need to inspect more than just balconies?
“In Berkeley, officials recognized this gap in oversight and a week after the balcony disaster called for a mandate on building owners to inspect balcony supports at least once every five years. State officials are considering whether the balcony collapse demands a broader fix.”
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-balcony-dry-rot-20150626-story.html

Criminal Investigation
“As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, the investigation will likely focus on Segue Construction Inc. — the company responsible for constructing the building — and on R. Brothers Inc., the company responsible for waterproofing the balcony’s wooden support beams. Several lawsuits throughout the Bay Area involving allegations of water penetration due to faulty waterproofing have been filed against Segue in the past.”
http://www.dailycal.org/2015/06/25/alameda-county-lead-criminal-investigation-berkeley-balcony-collapse/

From Other BTU Members:

Supreme Court on Fair Housing
From a BTU Member: I think that the Court’s decision on the Fair Housing Act is more important, insofar as it established the “disparate treatment” standard.  This is a significant victory for tenants and housing rights advocates.  It will now be much harder to defend discrimination and segregation in housing and other areas on the basis that it was not intentional.
http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2015/06/25/the-supreme-court-fair-housing-ruling-is-a-civil-rights-victory/

And In Other News:

Demolitions, Ellis Act Plague Los Angeles Renters
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0609-gross-housing-ellis-act-20150609-story.html

Cal Student Plagued by Pests
http://www.dailycal.org/2015/06/10/off-the-beat-on-renting-and-raccoons/

By Posted on Posted in Issues

IMG_0926-1Landlords Form PAC
The Berkeley Property Owners Association announced this week that they are forming a political action committee. “While the Rent Board uses our money to undermine our rights, the BRHC will use its funds to fight for our rights, bringing balance to matters that have been far out of balance for far too long.” The founding landlords pledge to spend at least $500,000 a year to fight against renters rights in Berkeley.
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2015-06-12/article/43384?headline=Berkeley-Landlords-Form-Political-Action-Committee-to-Raise-Half-Million-per-Year–

Short-Term Rentals (AirBnB) Discussion Continues June 23
http://www.mercurynews.com/my-town/ci_28289073/berkeley-discussion-short-term-rental-regulations-stalls-city

http://www.berkeleyside.com/2015/06/11/berkeley-council-meeting-ends-abruptly-during-testimony/

Students Call for Tight Limits on Vacation Rentals
“Research has shown that short-term and vacation rentals increase the costs of housing by reducing the supply of affordable housing available on the market…. If City Council decides to legalize short-term and vacation rentals, such as those found on Airbnb, then it must adequately regulate them in order to protect the city’s supply of affordable housing. The proposal put forward by Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmember Lori Droste, while a good start, would fail to adequately regulate short-term and vacation rentals so that they do not reduce the supply of affordable housing in Berkeley.”
http://www.dailycal.org/2015/06/08/protect-housing-costs-increase-regulation-of-short-term-rentals/

Pro-Development, Pro-AirBnb “Renters” Group Gets YELP Donation.
“I believe Sonja represents a massive segment of the population that’s been largely ignored in the discussion on Bay Area housing – renters,” said Stoppelman.”
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/real-estate/2015/03/pro-density-sfbarf-yelp-jeremy-stoppelman.html

Upcoming Dates:

Wednesday July 8 – BTU Member’s Meeting and Summer Potluck

CITY COUNCIL
Tuesday June 23, 7 PM – Short Term Rentals continues
Thursday June 25 5 PM – Community Benefits from Downtown High-rise Buildings
Tuesday June 30
Tuesday July 14
Tuesday September 15

ZONING BOARD
Thursday 6/11 at 7:00 PM
Thursday 6/25 at 7:00 PM – Demolition of 18-Unit Rent Controlled Building
Thursday 7/09 at 7:00 PM
Thursday 7/23 at 7:00 PM
Thursday 8/27 at 7:00 PM

PLANNING COMMISSION
Wednesday June 17
Wednesday July 1
Wednesday July 15 – possibly Short Term Rentals
Wednesday September 2

By Posted on Posted in Actions
Short-term rentals are more lucrative than permanent housing. Image courtesy of http://www.beyondchron.org
Short-term rentals are more lucrative than permanent housing. Image courtesy of http://www.beyondchron.org

Berkeley City Council Continues Discussion of Short Term Rentals Tuesday June 9th
7 PM @ Longfellow Middle School Auditorium, 1500 Derby

  • Please join BTU in supporting Councilmember Arreguin’s amendments to the Mayor’s proposal.
  • Ask that Council does not lift the ban on renting whole, empty units on Airbnb and other vacation platforms.
  • Say that we need rent controlled units and other empty apartments to be offered for Berkeley residents.
  • Ask the law be written so that it can be easily enforced!
  • Ask them to include the Rent Board in the referral so that the new law is in harmony with existing state and local laws on rental units.

Revised Council Item 32: 2015-06-09 Item 32 Short-Term Rental

Berkeleyside: Short Term Rentals
“The conversion of apartments into a short-term rentals, where guests come and go, is part of a trend that is sweeping Berkeley. While renting out apartments to anyone for less than 14 days is prohibited under Berkeley law, hundreds of homeowners are renting out rooms, suites, whole houses, cottages — even a tent and a yurt — according to listings posted on Airbnb, VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner), Home Away and other short-term rental websites… Property owners who rent out for short terms often stand to make a substantial amount of money, certainly more than if they rented month to month.”
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2015/05/26/short-term-rentals-are-squeezing-out-berkeley-renters/

Berkeley Tenants Union Public Comment
http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2015-06-05/article/43372?headline=The-Problem-with-Short-Term-Rentals-Perspective-of-Berkeley-Tenants-Union

State Won’t Force Airbnb to Share Information for Enforcement
“Legislation aimed at forcing Airbnb Inc. and other short-term rental sites to ensure collection of local taxes stalled in the state Senate on Thursday.
SB 593 would have required short-term housing platforms to report quarterly to cities and counties the addresses that were rented out on their sites as well as the number of nights those properties were rented and for what prices. Local governments could have used the information to ensure transient occupancy taxes were paid and to ferret out vacation rentals operating in cities that bar them. The bill had the backing of various cities, hotel lobbies and organized labor. But Airbnb fought back against the proposed regulations, hiring its first contract lobbyist in Sacramento and rallying its users with emails and phone calls. The company, along with its allied tech lobbies and the Santa Monica group Consumer Watchdog, framed the debate as a battle over its customers’ privacy.”
http://www.therecorder.com/id=1202728452451/Airbnb-Bill-Halted-By-Lobby-Blitz?slreturn=20150505224830

Should New Backyard Cottages Be Allowed as Short Term Rentals?
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2015/03/25/officials-to-relax-rules-for-berkeley-granny-flats/

“Airbnb Will Probably Get You Evicted and Priced Out of the City”
“If you look at the economics of it, Airbnb is ruining your life. Or, at least, your chances at a lasting life in the city. In an attempt to make an extra buck, you may be slowly screwing yourself out of the market…Every unit that’s being used for illegal hotel activity is a unit that’s not on the residential housing market.”
https://news.vice.com/article/airbnb-will-probably-get-you-evicted-and-priced-out-of-the-city

In Other News

Fun Protest! Saturday June 6 @ 10 AM
“…To fly large red, black and white balloons, three feet in diameter, to a height of 194 feet, near the planned site of The Residences at Berkeley Plaza, also known by its street address 2211 Harold Way. The building would be 180 feet high — or 194 feet, with the addition of an elevator housing and other infrastructure on top.”
http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_28244224/berkeley-activists-plan-visual-protest-downtown-proposal

Berkeley Rents Too Damn High
“The last time rents rose so crazily was 15 years ago during the last technology boom, and history seems to be repeating itself.” In 2000, the dotcom boom market, rents skyrocketed and now we are dealing with some of the same issues,” said Nick Traylor, a manager at the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board. Some landlords are even increasing rents by $400 to $1,000 a month if they have a tenant vacate a unit, said Traylor. He stressed these substantial increases are on top of the already high market rates being charged to the previous tenant. Elaine Perkins, who runs the Cal Rentals office at UC Berkeley, said students are living in cramped conditions to afford decent accommodation.”
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2015/05/28/berkeley-rental-rates-skyrocket-causing-problems-for-students-and-those-on-middle-incomes/

German Rent Freeze; Berlin Rent Ceilings
“Berlin is limiting rent increases to 10 percent of average rents in neighborhoods suffering housing shortages. Landlords often jack up rents by as much as 40 percent to take advantage of well-heeled newcomers who are flocking to the city from the around the world, said Reiner Wild, managing director of the Berlin Tenants Association.
“The rent ceiling is very important for Berlin because the difference between the rent paid in existing contracts and new contracts is so high,” Wild told The Guardian.”
https://news.vice.com/article/berlin-imposes-rent-caps-as-worlds-most-desirable-cities-become-gated-communities
Law allowing rent controls on Berlin’s inner-city property prevents landlords charging new tenants more than 10 per cent above the local average
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/news/11645625/berlin-rent-control-law-housing-crisis.html
“Berlin is pioneering the rent cap after the national parliament approved the law, aimed at areas with housing shortages, in March… “We don’t want a situation like in London or Paris,” said Wild. “The reality in Paris or London is that people with low income have to live in the further-out districts of the city.”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/01/rent-cap-legislation-in-force-berlin-germany