The California Apartment Association, supported by the Berkeley Property Owners Association, has put a stop to rent control in Richmond, the first California city to invoke such protections for renters in three decades. The law was supposed to go into effect September 4th.

Alameda County has 30 days to verify the 7000 signatures on a petition submitted by property owners. Then, the Richmond City Council must repeal the ordinance or place it on the ballot for November 2016 (or call a special election).

Contra Costa Times:
“Measure supporters have criticized the signature-gathering effort as misleading, with allegations of petition gatherers who told residents they were signing in support of the measure. The company, Pacific Petition, also allegedly paid up to $20 per signature in the run-up to the deadline to collect the needed 4,100 signatures.”
http://www.contracostatimes.com/richmond/ci_28753158/richmond-rent-control-foes-submit-more-than-7

East Bay Express:
“Residents said signature gatherers lied to people by telling them that the petition made rent control stronger, or kept rents from increasing, according to testimony from renters and media reports.”
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2015/09/08/big-money-stole-richmonds-renters-protections

Richmond Law:
http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/3000/Housing-Policy

30 Years Wasn’t Enough?:
No economic analysis on the impacts of rent control was ever done. This will give everybody more time to look at the short- and long-term implications.”
http://caanet.org/caa-petition-puts-brakes-on-richmond-rent-control/

Get Involved In Richmond:
http://richmondprogressivealliance.net/