More Evictions in West Berkeley
More Evictions in West Berkeley

On Tuesday, the Berkeley City Council will consider a request from the Rent Board to place a measure on the November 2016 ballot to update the Rent Ordinance. Because that law was passed by the voters, it can only be changed at the ballot box. This will be Item 48 on the June 14th agenda.

Update: This Will Be On The November Ballot

Summary of the Changes
The main request is to revise the amount of assistance tenants receive when they lose their homes to an owner move-in eviction (OMI). Berkeley’s relocation funds have not been updated since 2000. The changes would also expand relocation assistance to all tenants; currently only low-income Berkeley tenants get any recompense at all after such no fault evictions. Berkeley is the only rent controlled jurisdiction in California which restricts help by income. Since rents have gone up over 40% in five years, all tenants need help with moving costs and new security deposits.

The other important change to the Rent Ordinance would be to protect families with children from owner move-in evictions during the school year. An owner could still evict a family, but the family would not have to disrupt their children’s education and could wait until the summer to relocate. San Francisco has had such protections for renter families for many years.

OMI evictions in Berkeley doubled between 2013 and 2014.
When Berkeley voters passed “Measure Y” in November 2000, they also voted to have the Rent Board monitor such evictions. Recently, the Rent Board won an important court victory (see https://www.berkeleytenants.org/?p=1386) which upheld the agency’s ability to reset the rent to the previous tenant’s rent-controlled rent when a landlord evicts a tenant but does not actually move in.

The Rent Board reports on owner move-in evictions every six months. The reports show that most owners who evict buy the building and then evict within two years. The reports also show that most “fake” OMIs happen in larger buildings, and that recent OMIs are concentrated west of Sacramento Street. Yet the Rent Board only tracks evictions which follow the law. If tenants leave simply because they are threatened with an OMI, the Rent Board cannot track the eviction or enforce the law. Tenants who accept a buyout also have new protections passed by the City Council a few months ago, but typically waive their rights under the Rent Ordinance for some cash.
Relocation funds would increase to about $15,000 per household.
BTU hopes increasing the relocation payment a landlord is required to give might cut down on false evictions.

Read Item 48 here: RSO Changes Ballot Measure Final
“The law currently requires landlords who evict for the purpose of moving into the rental unit to pay $4,500 only to tenant households who qualify as low income. Tenants who are evicted for owner move in but do not qualify as low income receive nothing. Berkeley is one of the only major rent control jurisdictions in the state that does not provide relocation assistance to all tenants, regardless of income. Also, the relocation assistance amount set forth in Measure Y has not been adjusted since it was passed almost 16 years ago. The amount of the assistance is nearly four times lower than that required by the cities of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and West Hollywood – each of which have periodically adjusted relocation payments over the years in response to rising rents, moving costs, and inflation.”

Report on Owner Move In Evictions:
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/uploadedFiles/Rent_Stabilization_Board/Level_3_-_General/Measure%20Y%20report_9-18-15(1).pdf

The Berkeley City Council may finally pass some Short Term Rental (STR) laws on Tuesday, May 31. The problem for tenants is that city staff won’t enforce the existing ban on STRs until Council makes the new laws, yet the draft being contemplated by Berkeley repeats the mistakes that have caused problems for San Francisco, Portland and other cities with tight rental markets that are popular tourist destinations.

In May and June of 2015, several activists and tenants impacted by short term rentals in their building filed code enforcement complaints on behalf of BTU against some of the landlords who are listing multiple empty units on AirBnB and other websites.

So far, Berkeley has refused to act on these and other complaints.

Some Landlords List Many Units
Some Landlords List Many Units

A new report from San Francisco on the impact of AirBnB on the rental housing market calls for SF Supervisors to require “hosting platforms” to only advertise rentals that are legally listed with the city. Yet Berkeley’s draft recommended by planning Staff does even require that an advertisement show an identifying license number.

We ask Berkeley Tenants to join BTU in asking the City Council to enact legislation requiring hosting platforms to only list units and hosts that are registered with our City and to fine hosing platforms like HomeAway, FlipKey and Airbnb if they advertise rentals which are not legal here. This would allow less expensive enforcement of the new laws, which will allow regular folks to rent out their own home. We hope the new law will stop large landlords from turning whole apartment buildings into hotels – as several have done already!
We also want to support the Rent Board, Planning Commission and Housing Commission in suggesting that units where tenants have been evicted through OMI or Ellis Act evictions should not be allowed to be short term rentals in Berkeley. Please take a look at the report from the Rent Board, which is an attachment below.
Finally, we suggest you write to the City Council to request that no whole units, not even in-law or accessory units, be converted to hotel rooms when we need every single housing unit to be offered to folks who live and work in Berkeley! Although the original Council referral asked that the law require any short term rental to be someone’s primary home, the Staff draft of the new law would allow some 2nd units on owner-occupied properties to be offered as tourist rentals. As the analysis of the impact of Airbnb in San Francisco shows, losing units to short term rentals does drive up housing costs.

More Information:

Kathy’s Letter on Enforcement
STRS Council May 2016 from KH

Handy Chart on Different Versions from Jesse Townley
http://www.cityofberkeley.info/uploadedFiles/Rent_Stabilization_Board/Level_3_-_General/7a2.pdf

Council Item 30 for May 31
This item has six attachments, including two versions of the ordinance. BTU favors the Planning Commission draft, but even that’s not ready to be law as written. The best place to access the item is in the full agenda packet on page 285.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/35320626/2016-05-31%20Agenda%20Packet%20-%20WEB.pdf

Rent Board Report on No-Fault Evictions
https://www.cityofberkeley.info/Rent_Stabilization_Board/Committee_Meetings/2016/16_May_12_FULL_Agenda_Packet_4x4_Committee.aspx

Berkeley’s Housing Commission on Vacation Rentals
http://www.dailycal.org/2015/10/04/housing-advisory-commission-makes-short-term-rent-recommendations/

SF Report on Enforcement
http://www.sfbos.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=55575

SF Analysis of STR Impact 2016
http://www.sfbos.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=52601

Also on the May 31 Agenda:

Item 19 Support AB 2502 Inclusionary Housing
Ask the state to allow local requirements for affordable rental housing. Right now, Berkeley can’t require that developers include lower-income units on site if the housing being built will be rental housing. California needs to make a law to allow Berkeley control over local zoning mitigations.

Item 21 – End Discrimination Based on Tenant’s Income Source
Owners would have to accept Section 8 Housing Vouchers.

Item 27 Placing a Measure on the November 8, 2016 Ballot to Increase the Business License Tax on Owners of Five or More Residential Rental Units

Item 31 Tenant Protection OrdinanceRead more »

 

houses

Berkeley Top Rental Market
Berkeley rentals are usually listed for an average of six days before they are rented.
http://sf.curbed.com/2016/5/11/11659084/berkeley-el-cerrito-rent-onerent

Lawsuits Following Berkeley Balcony Collapse
They are suing 11 named defendants who fall under the umbrella of two companies: Blackrock – the owners of the Library Gardens development, and Greystar – the property managers…
The three are alleging that the wooden deck of the balcony was already water damaged before the water-proof coating was applied in 2006, during the construction of the Library Gardens complex, and that the owners and managers knew it was dangerous.”
http://www.rte.ie/news/2016/0412/781151-berkeley-balcony-legal/

A Californian judge denied applications by the main defendants in the suits, who had been seeking to have claims for punitive damages struck out. These are additional damages paid on top of basic compensation, designed to punish offenders and to discourage similar conduct in future.”
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/court-rejects-bid-to-limit-damages-in-berkeley-case-34663214.html

Five Library Gardens Contractors Broke Law
Contractors State License Board, or CSLB, found Segue Construction, Etter and Sons Construction, R. Brothers Waterproofing, Northstate Plastering and the Energy Store of California “willfully departed from accepted trade standards for good and workmanlike construction.”
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/04/14/license-board-alleges-contractor-violations-contributed-berkeley-balcony-collapse/

“Investigators said the balcony supports failed because the incorrect application of waterproofing resulted in “water incursion that caused dry rot.” The Alameda County (CA) district attorney said that workers waterproofed the balcony supports while they were wet, leaving the water trapped underneath to rot the wood.”
http://www.constructiondive.com/news/ca-investigators-cite-contractors-in-berkeley-balcony-collapse-for-poor-wo-1/417241/

Oakland Converting Residential Hotel to Luxury Tourist Spot
One of the last single room occupancy hotels in Oakland will be converted to a boutique hotel, according to the East Bay Express. Losing the 102 rooms will likely increase the number of homeless in Oakland. Several other low-income hotels are already being converted, because Oakland has no protections for SROs.
The potential sale of the Sutter — which serves very-low income people, many of them on the verge of homelessness — follows the recent sale of two other downtown Oakland SROs to investors, who plan to push out existing tenants and turn the properties into market-rate apartments or upscale tourist hostels.”
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/affordable-no-more/Content?oid=4791392

Evictions in Alameda County
Dejected renters sat on benches along the walls, fiddling with their cell phones. Seniors leaned on canes. Other tenants pushed walkers. One man told his attorney he’d kill himself if he lost his home in Berkeley, where he’d lived for 18 years.”
http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_29831195/evictions-soar-alameda-county-rents-rise

San Jose Considers Relocation Funds for Renters
Berkeley already provides relocation for tenants displaced through no fault of their own, and the Rent Board has requested a ballot measure this year to raise the relocation funds for owner-move-in evictions, since Berkeley has not increased the allowance since 2001.
https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/san-jose-landlords-pay-displaced-tenants

File Dec 24, 2 04 50 PMCode Enforcement Item Passes at City Council
Jesse Arreguin’s item asking for changes to Berkeley’s Rental Housing Safety Program passed on the consent calendar after being postponed for several meetings. Of course, the item doesn’t yet set policy, it just asks for a report back from the City Manager regarding costs for proactive rental housing inspections and other proposed improvements.
Berkeley City Council also passed Arreguin’s item to have Berkeley staff look into the feasibility of creating a “small sites program” to help nonprofits – such as student co-ops – purchase small multi-family buildings.
District 7 Council Member Kriss Worthington’s item requesting our state representatives to work to increase the California housing tax credit for low income residents also passed on consent, but several other housing items Worthington had introduced for an October meeting were held over for a fourth time and will be heard January 12th.

Rental Housing Safety Program Item:
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/Clerk/City_Council/2015/12_Dec/Documents/2015-12-01_Item_28_Revising_the_Rental.aspx
more info:
https://www.berkeleytenants.org/?p=1456

Related: More Library Gardens Balcony Lawsuits
As well as blaming contractors involved in the construction, lawyers claim the company which managed the Library Gardens apartment complex did not want to spend money on remedial work or investigations as it was motivated to maximise profits.”
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/berkeley-tragedy/berkeley-lawsuit-claims-red-flag-warning-ignored-34300516.html
“Some of the Irish students who witnessed the Berkeley balcony collapse but who were not injured are expected to file lawsuits over their emotional distress, according to a new court filing in California.”
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/berkeley-witnesses-expected-to-file-lawsuits-over-incident-1.2459187

Students Getting Involved!
BTU has added many student members this year, including two recent graduates and one current student who now serve on the steering committee of your Berkeley Tenants Union. The Associated Students of the University of California joined with BTU in appealing the demolition on Durant, and the ASUC has also formed a Student Housing Committee to create a Housing Action Plan to address how the housing emergency is impacting students.
“The committee is considering several potential solutions to address the campus’s housing shortage, such as constructing additional buildings in the courtyards of Unit 1 and Unit 2 and earmarking parts of the university budget to building more affordable housing…The committee also discussed plans for a Housing and Tenants’ Rights Week, tentatively scheduled from Feb. 8-13, and a possible large public event to bring awareness to student-housing issues.”
http://www.dailycal.org/2015/12/11/asuc-student-housing-committee-discusses-housing-tenant-rights/

In Other News 

Fire Highlights Problems With Relocation Law
At issue was Berkeley’s Relocation Ordinance, written in 2011 and designed to support tenants who are temporarily forced out of their rental units. It applies most often to planned renovations that displace tenants — as well as to relocation due to fire or code enforcement, except in the case of an earthquake or other natural disaster. Under the ordinance, tenants are entitled to “relocation payments from the property owner to mitigate the costs associated with a temporary move,” until they can move back into the unit.”
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2015/12/10/tenants-scramble-to-relocate-after-dwight-way-fire/

Oakland Ellis Evictions
With no-fault evictions on the rise, Oakland is considering a relocation fee that will be higher than San Francisco’s or Berkeley’s.
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2015/12/07/ellis-act-evictions-on-the-rise-in-oakland

Lafayette Wants Rent Control
This summer, the Bay Area suburb of Lafayette backed down on a city moratorium on rent increases when controversial landlord Sack Properties agreed to limit increases to 10%. However, tenants say the owner added on new charges and fees instead of raising the rents. Now renters are back before the City Council asking for protections.
“He outlined the many charges and fees: water charges, marked-up garbage costs, pet rent, parking rent, mandatory renters insurance, questionable language in new leases that give the landlord the right to evict tenants for anything deemed to be an excessive mess, and a $3,000 charge for an early break of the lease.
A parade of concerned tenants spoke to the council about all of these issues, emphasizing the serious inconsistencies in utility charges, and lack of transparency.”
http://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue0920/Tenants-Criticize-Landlord-Practices-Again.html

Redwood City Wants Rent Control
Across Redwood City, the median rent price for two-bedroom apartments increased from $2,500 to $3,800 since 2012, according to the real estate website Zillow. Minimum wage and other full time workers are unable to afford those rents. They end up having to move out of the area and in sometimes quitting their local jobs.”
http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/12/21/redwood-city-renters-officials-face-off-as-housing-crisis-intensifies