Rent control

Culver City to Implement Rent Freeze, Consider Rent Control  Commercial Observer
Culver City is the latest area of Los Angeles to seriously consider rent control, amid the city's deepening housing crisis.

Hayward tenants get some protection from steep rent hikes  East Bay Times
HAYWARD — Tenants will enjoy some protections from steep rent hikes and possible displacement under rules approved by the City Council. The new ...

Oakland 'Closes the Loophole' on Tenant Inequality  SF Bay Area Indymedia
At a late-night session, on Tuesday June 4, 2019, the Oakland City Council by a unanimous 6-0 vote (1 excused; 1 recused), adopted an ordinance to “Eliminate ...

Half of California’s renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing— housing experts call it “rent burdened.” A third of the state’s renters are considered “severely burdened” because they spend half of their paycheck on rent.

And rents in the state keep going up.

So, what rights do tenants have when the landlord asks for more?

KPBS’s Amita Sharma reached out to two experts for their perspective.

The Committee to House the Bay Area (CASA) process has come to a close. The proposal will now move forward through the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), and the state legislature. The policies that come out of this process will impact housing, development, and displacement in the whole Bay Area and perhaps even the state.

For Iván Contreras, it’s normal to hear complaints about sudden rent increases from his neighbors; usually a couple of new people each month will reach out. But so far in January, Contreras, a housing organizer in Queens with community group Woodside on the Move, said it’s closer to a couple per day, all coming to him with notices from the state that their landlords performed “Major Capital Improvements,” or MCIs, and now want to increase their rent.

Oregon appears poised to impose statewide rent controls, a national first, and place new restrictions on evictions.

It’s the second time rent control has been teed up as a major decision for the Legislature. This time, however, Democratic leaders in the Oregon House and Senate have united around a single proposal, and there’s little sign members of the majority party will defect to oppose it.

Gov. Kate Brown supports a bill that would limit how much Oregon landlords could increase rents and eliminate no-cause evictions of long-term tenants, her office said Friday.

Brown believes those ideas “are innovative and will give renters some peace of mind,” spokeswoman Kate Kondayen said.

The endorsement increases the likelihood Oregon will enact notable tenant protections amid a housing shortage after failing to pass similar laws in 2017.