4 18-1636 Subject: Elimination Of Rent Ordinance For Owner-Occupied Duplexes And Triplexes
From: President Pro Tempore Kalb And Councilmember Gallo
Recommendation: Adopt An Ordinance Amending (1) The Rent Adjustment Ordinance (O.M.C. 8.22.020 Et SEQ) To Eliminate Exemptions For Owner-Occupied Duplexes And Triplexes And Allow A Limited Transitional Rent Increase For Newly Covered Units And (2) The Tenant Protection Ordinance (O.M.C. 8.22.600 Et SEQ) To Eliminate Exemptions For Owner-Occupied Duplexes And Triplexes
This city has not been honest about what they put on the ballot for measure Y. This ballot is further evidence that the city council relies on unverified information and fear mongering to make policy. I am a duplex owner in Oakland and I can’t believe the city is giving my property to my tenants. This policy change up for vote is an attack on middle class and senior oaklanders who are being scapegoated for a perceived housing crisis. The Oakland city council should be embarrassed
My wife and i bought a triplex in 2005. When the housing bust hit, we were appraised $250,000 underwater and could not refinance. We have NEVER raised a tenant more than $50, and not even keeping with CPI (and not raising rents even when my wife lost her job). the building at one time only covered HALF of PITI. Even after finally refinancing, the building still DOES NOT cover all our costs, but we've formed lasting friendships with all our tenants over the years. IF you cap our VERY BELOW MARKET rents under rent control, we will have been made the ultimate fools for not only being fair housing providers, but believing the city of Oakland cared about us.
I have lived in an owner-occupied triplex in Oakland for 14 years. Over the years I had received only a handful of moderate rent increases from my landlords, as well as a few requests for increased contributions toward basic utilities. However, in January 2019, my landlords served me with a notice increasing my rent by 61%. I was stunned. During the past 5 years, my landlords have witnessed me become slowly disabled due to illness. They are aware that because of this disability I am unable to work. My sole source of income is Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. The 61% rent increase they set forth would exceed my ENTIRE monthly SSDI benefit. Had it not been for the emergency Ordinance #13519 rent increase moratorium, this price-gouging rent increase would have served as a constructive eviction. This potential displacement would force me to move a great distance away from my elderly mother, and my sister, who serves as my primary care giver. Please protect tenants like me.
There is a lot of troubling misinformation in the City Administrator's report, including the claim that the city doesn't know which owners will be affected. Maryann Leshin and I have talked about this list of owners, their addresses, their emails, ad nauseum. The city knows exactly who the owners are and the addresses of their buildings and it has NO EVIDENCE that they have been raising rents about the CPI, above the ability of a vulnerable tenant to pay, and as a result displacing that tenant. This IS happening in Oakland. It is not happening in the buildings affected by the ordinance. This means the ordinance is not the right tool for the job. It also means that the ordinance will be illegal as applied to these 814 buildings. The city council needs to stop blundering into lawsuits and wasting time and resources that could be spent helping people.
This city has not been honest about what they put on the ballot for measure Y. This ballot is further evidence that the city council relies on unverified information and fear mongering to make policy. I am a duplex owner in Oakland and I can’t believe the city is giving my property to my tenants. This policy change up for vote is an attack on middle class and senior oaklanders who are being scapegoated for a perceived housing crisis. The Oakland city council should be embarrassed
My wife and i bought a triplex in 2005. When the housing bust hit, we were appraised $250,000 underwater and could not refinance. We have NEVER raised a tenant more than $50, and not even keeping with CPI (and not raising rents even when my wife lost her job). the building at one time only covered HALF of PITI. Even after finally refinancing, the building still DOES NOT cover all our costs, but we've formed lasting friendships with all our tenants over the years. IF you cap our VERY BELOW MARKET rents under rent control, we will have been made the ultimate fools for not only being fair housing providers, but believing the city of Oakland cared about us.
I have lived in an owner-occupied triplex in Oakland for 14 years. Over the years I had received only a handful of moderate rent increases from my landlords, as well as a few requests for increased contributions toward basic utilities. However, in January 2019, my landlords served me with a notice increasing my rent by 61%. I was stunned. During the past 5 years, my landlords have witnessed me become slowly disabled due to illness. They are aware that because of this disability I am unable to work. My sole source of income is Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. The 61% rent increase they set forth would exceed my ENTIRE monthly SSDI benefit. Had it not been for the emergency Ordinance #13519 rent increase moratorium, this price-gouging rent increase would have served as a constructive eviction. This potential displacement would force me to move a great distance away from my elderly mother, and my sister, who serves as my primary care giver. Please protect tenants like me.
There is a lot of troubling misinformation in the City Administrator's report, including the claim that the city doesn't know which owners will be affected. Maryann Leshin and I have talked about this list of owners, their addresses, their emails, ad nauseum. The city knows exactly who the owners are and the addresses of their buildings and it has NO EVIDENCE that they have been raising rents about the CPI, above the ability of a vulnerable tenant to pay, and as a result displacing that tenant. This IS happening in Oakland. It is not happening in the buildings affected by the ordinance. This means the ordinance is not the right tool for the job. It also means that the ordinance will be illegal as applied to these 814 buildings. The city council needs to stop blundering into lawsuits and wasting time and resources that could be spent helping people.