Eviction

The battle over rent control in the state and in Sacramento is heating up.
A local housing coalition is pushing for rent control and just cause in the city, while five industry groups have announced opposition to the measure. There's also a campaign across the state to repeal a decades-old law that limits where local governments can enact rent control.

Volunteers are already collecting signatures to get a rent control related initiative on the California ballot in November.

Every year in Milwaukee, thousands of eviction notices are filed. The state Senate is expected to take up legislation later this month that critics say unfairly favors landlords -- and would increase the number of evictions. Republican proponents maintain it’s about ensuring quality housing for tenants in the most affordable way to landlords.

Landlords who evict tenants under the Ellis Act would have to give them a year’s notice — instead of four months — under one of three tenant-rights bills being introduced Thursday in the Legislature.

Another bill would require landlords to wait 10 days — instead of three — to begin eviction proceedings against tenants who haven’t paid their rent on time.

And a third bill would require landlords across the state to show “just cause” — a reasonable reason — before trying to force tenants out.

An Oak Park area renter is fighting an eviction effort that would force her from her apartment for what she says, is no good reason.

Marie Camacho, a single mother who is also disabled, claims apartment owner Blackfriar targeted her for eviction because they wanted a tenant who could pay higher rent.

Camacho is backed by the Alliance of Californians For Community Empowerment in her effort to fight the eviction.

A new ordinance requires Oakland landlords to tell tenants their rights before paying or giving them other compensation to move out.

The ordinance, approved by the City Council on Feb. 6, aims to regulate so-called “move out” agreements that are often done to circumvent state and local legal requirements and restrictions. It requires landlords to submit the agreements to the city’s rent adjustment program.

California lawmakers are rolling out a series of new bills aimed at easing the state's housing crisis by helping renters who face eviction.

Assembly Bill 2343 was introduced by Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, and co-authored by state Senator Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley.

If passed, the bill would extend the period of time that tenants have to respond to eviction lawsuits so they can present a legitimate defense. It would also give them more time to pay their rent or comply with other contractual obligations in the lease.

California renters would gain new legal protections — and a doubled state tax credit — if lawmakers pass a package of bills announced Thursday amid pressure to help millions of people coping with the threat of eviction and lack of available rental housing.

The proposals aim to make it harder for landlords to evict tenants, give renters more time to respond to eviction notices, and bar landlords from evicting all of their tenants while remaining in the rental business.