News and Views
October 22, 2009
A recently released study documents that over half of LA City tenants living in rent controlled apartments are paying unaffordable rents, while landlords who own rent controlled apartments have seen their profits skyrocket.
October 22, 2009
New York state's highest court dealt a financial blow on Thursday morning to the already beleaguered owners of the sprawling Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village complexes in Manhattan when it ruled that they improperly began charging market rents on thousands of apartments. CalPERS may lose $500 million they invested in the scheme.
October 22, 2009
The San Mateo County Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCo, board voted to maintain East Palo Alto's current "sphere of influence," rather than remove areas west and south of Highway 101 as landlord Page Mill Properties had requested.
October 22, 2009
The city of Carson was expected this week to announce a settlement on a multimillion-dollar lawsuit over its failed efforts to protect low rents at mobile home parks. But with a legal deadline just days away, the city and park owner have been unable to reach a compromise.
October 22, 2009
A new tenant rights clinic has opened in Oakland,
October 21, 2009
This week in San Francisco tenant attorney Dave Crow's weekly advice column he addresses a question about getting a security deposit back from an unresponsive landlord.
October 21, 2009
Attorney Steven R. Kellman of of San Diego's Tenant Legal Center and Bernadette Probus of the Legal Aid Society of San Diego offer advice on security deposits and researching landlords before moving into a new place.
October 21, 2009
A new Richmond ordinance spells relief for renters whose landlords go into foreclosure. Under the new ordinance, tenants can only be evicted under 12 specific circumstances. Foreclosure alone is not one of those circumstances.
October 21, 2009
Contra Costa supervisors have passed new regulations that will require apartment building owners to tell prospective tenants which apartments are occupied by smokers.
October 21, 2009
Attorneys for Golden State Manufactured-home Owners League (GSMOL), and the City of Goleta, are now preparing to appeal the September 28th Court of Appeals 9th Circuit’s “rent control” decision in favor of Goleta mobile home park owners.
October 20, 2009
Thanks to Dr. Pop.org for leading us to this today.
The Center for Urban Pedagogy in New York connects artists/designers with advocates to produce Making Public Policy four times a year. The end product of the collaboration is a beautiful, brilliant, highly informative, and easy to understand pamphlet that unfolds into a color poster.
According to their website:
October 19, 2009
In this blog post about a NY Times article on increased homelessness caused by the Foreclosure crisis, the author suggests legislative solutions to help renters in foreclosure situations.
October 18, 2009
Predatory Equity: The Survival Guide is a beautifully useful product of the Center for Urban Pedagogy in NY’s Making Policy Public project that links designers with advocates in order to produce and distribute an artful and useful poster resource that will help advance grassroots campaigns.
October 17, 2009
Councilman Donald Haines wants to see if Galt is in need of a rent stabilization ordinance and what would be effective.
The city of Santa Monica plans to commemorate 30 years of rent control by holding its first-ever workshop for tenants and property owners.
October 16, 2009
The LA City Council unanimously voted to uphold the recommendation to deny a condominium conversion application of the 104-unit rent controlled Grand Villas Apartments (formerly Magnolia Park Apartments) in Sherman Oaks.