News and Views
September 22, 2009
Owner follows up on the governor's announcement last week that disabled tenants would not be evicted from an affordable rental complex in Monrovia, which had been intended as senior citizens' housing.
September 21, 2009
According to new census data, many renters in Long Beach and surrounding communities pay a high percentage of their income for housing.
September 20, 2009
San Diego Housing Commission plans to borrow against its housing stock to produce 1,035 additional affordable units throughout the city. Once the $22.5 million project is completed next year, monthly rents will range from as low as $447 for a one-bedroom apartment to $594 to $1,159 for a three-bedroom unit.
September 19, 2009
After learning about the plight of disabled tenants being evicted from an affordable housing complex in Monrovia, Gov Schwarzenegger reaches agreement with complex owner to allow the tenants to remain. But some activists said that the governor should reconsider his budget cuts that have greatly reduced services to people with special needs.
September 18, 2009
This article written for college students informs tenants of their rights with security deposits and offers advice on how to get along with a roommate.
September 18, 2009
A southwest Bakersfield family renting a foreclosed home claims the new owner is unfairly trying to kick them out just four days after he bought the home. This news piece includes an interview with Gabe Treves of Tenants Together.
September 17, 2009
Huffington Post ran an excellent piece today by David Jones of the Community Service Society (CSS) of New York about "predatory equity," an issue that has profoundly affected many tenants in East Palo Alto, San Francisco, and other cities in California.
September 17, 2009
David Jones, President and CEO of Community Service Society of New York, looks at a recent example of predatory equity in New York and how the massive fallout from this and similar schemes will be hurting tenants, taxpayers,and the general public for a long time to come. CalPERS was a major investor in this investment scheme.
September 17, 2009
The LA Times covers the story of some 20 physically or developmentally disabled tenants of the Regency Court affordable rental complex in Monrovia who were notified last month that their leases were being terminated. Those being told to go fear loss of precious independence.
September 17, 2009
The Thousand Oaks City Council voted to approve the conversion of the Vallecito Mobile Estates from rental spaces to owner occupied spaces. Residents of the park pleaded with the council to protect them from the conversion, which will ultimately raise rents substantially for those who don’t purchase their lots.
September 17, 2009
A new rent law East Palo Alto leaders spent months crafting will not appear on November's ballot after Page Mill Properties successfully blocked it in court -- but will likely make next June's ballot -- city officials said this week.
September 17, 2009
The City of West Hollywood filled a gap in its tenant protections when the council tweaked little noticed but potentially profoundly important fee overpayment law. By now allowing a hearing examiner to order a refund of excess, the City can ensure that owners are adhering to the limitations placed on rents and fees.
September 17, 2009
A comprehensive settlement agreement has been signed by representatives of the parties to multiple lawsuits, potentially ending the 20-year Lincoln Place saga that has pitted tenants against a succession of owners of the 38-acre apartment complex in Venice.
September 16, 2009
The San Francisco Bay Guardian has a great opinion piece this week, marking 30 years of rent control in San Francisco, written by Susan Prentice of the San Francisco Tenants Union.
Where would we be without rent control? The 3oth anniversary of rent control in San Francisco.
September 16, 2009
A report on renting in Chicago reveals that half of Chicago's renters are paying more than a third of their income for housing. It also shows that the foreclosure crisis has altered the rental market by increasing demand from homeowners who have lost their homes to foreclosure and need to rent and decreasing supply as rental properties have been foreclosed upon.
September 15, 2009
This opinion piece looks briefly at 30 years of rent control in San Francisco and argues that it has allowed many San Franciscans to live here who would have otherwise been priced out of the city. The San Francisco Tenants Union celebrates the anniversary of rent control this weekend.
September 14, 2009
State Assemblyman Pedro Nava's bill, the Mobile Home Resident Protection Act of 2009, passed in the state legislature last week and awaits approval by the Governor. This article looks at the proposed law in the context of recent attempts by Ventura County mobile home park owners to convert their rental spaces to condominium ownership.
September 11, 2009
Orange County Sheriff Deputy Ramona Figueroa says that evictions are on the rise and she often serves eviction notices to people who have done nothing wrong -- who rent properties that have fallen into foreclosure, or are repossessed to recover unpaid debts.