CONCORD — The financial toll of annual rent hikes and evictions will soon be slightly less burdensome for renters living in roughly 18,100 dwellings in the East Bay.
Concord lawmakers this month agreed to increase “just cause” eviction protections to most of the city’s tenants and establish rent stabilization for roughly half of its rental stock — a culmination of months of hours-long meetings to complete an effort that’s been in the works since 2016.
A majority of the Concord City Council and regional housing advocates praised the additions to the city’s tenant protections ordinance, citing stats that show renters occupy approximately 40% of all housing units in the city, and nearly half of those residents shell out more than 30% of their income on housing costs.
While these policies are still relatively rare — of the 538 cities and counties in California, only 26 have enacted rent stabilization policies, while 43 include just cause for eviction policies beyond state law — Concord is now aligned with similar local efforts in Berkeley, Oakland and Richmond.
Councilmember Laura Nakamura said she hopes the new ordinance will help create a sustainable housing market and prevent residents from being displaced or falling into homelessness. While she vowed to revisit the issue if problems arise for local property owners, she noted that 78% of all rental homes are owned by investors from outside of Concord.
“I am very excited to see that this will stabilize our community, our neighbors, and that people will hopefully feel secure in their homes,” Nakamura said during the Feb. 13 council meeting. “Tenants in Concord have not had a lot of choices, and I think tonight that this really centers the voices of the people who really have needed our help.”
The rules dictating what landlords can and cannot do — as well as how renters can respond — are complex and are not applied in the same way across all homes. (The full 30-page ordinance and broad summaries are posted on www.cityofconcord.org).
Notably, exemptions from rent stabilization were carved out for several types of rentals, including single family homes, some condos and select affordable housing units where annual rent caps are already contracted at 5% or tenants earn salaries higher than low-income ceilings. Landlords of each of these properties must still follow the rules of “just cause” evictions.
However, Concord residents who live in accessory dwelling units, government-owned housing or on the other side of an owner-occupied duplex, among others, do not have any protections for rent stabilization and just cause evictions.
These newly drafted laws will take effect April 4, 2024, unless a majority of the council chooses to reject them in a final vote, which seems unlikely. The Concord City Council approved the final laundry list of changes in a 4-1 vote. Councilmember Laura Hoffmeister was the lone “no” vote.
For multi-family rental units that were built before February 1, 1995, as well as rented out mobile homes, the new ordinance caps rent increases at 3% or 60% of the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. For a median-priced apartment in Concord at $2,449, a renter would face a rent increase of no more than $73, for example.
When current tenants in Concord are permanently relocated out of a home in a “no fault” eviction — such as an owner moving into that space, taking the entire property off the rental market or constructing substantial rehabilitations — the ordinance requires that landlords pay relocation payments and moving stipends.
For single family homes and condos, that rate is two months of the rent rates dating back to April 2023, as well as an additional $2,000. All other dwellings are beholden to relocation payments that are three times federal fair-market rates for each type of home, on top of a $3,000 lump sum to cover moving costs. Renters who are low-income, disabled, seniors or have other qualifications can receive additional funding to ease the transition.
Councilmember Laura Hoffmeister and Vice Mayor Carlyn Obringer vocalized concerns that not all property owners in Concord were aware they would be impacted by the newly approved changes — potentially harming landlords who they said are already burdened by the increasingly expensive costs of maintaining rental housing, and may now lose even more control over the units they own.
The Concord City Council ultimately agreed to loosen some restrictions for property owners.
One such change lowered the residency requirements for property owners who move into a unit after evicting the previous tenant. That timeline was set at 24 months, and exceptions may be given in the event of significant hardships, such as an unexpected medical or family emergency. Additionally, while the policies require that landlords petition a hearing officer for the ability to charge more if they feel its necessary to get a “fair return” on their investments, the council ultimately supported the right for both tenants and landlords to file lawsuits on their own volition.
“My biggest concern over all this is all the unintended consequences because, whether we like it or not, we do still live in a capitalist society,” Obringer said earlier this month. “I do think this is a very important step, because I don’t want to see any more people falling into homelessness, but I’m going to be watching this very carefully.”
But a handful of local landlords and groups like the California Apartment Association opposed the city’s move altogether, arguing that Concord’s rules are now more punitive than state laws that are already in place to regulate rents and evictions.
Rhovy Lyn Antonio, the association’s senior vice president of local public affairs, said he will continue to advocate for what they consider to be fairer policies: “Although the council has turned a deaf ear to (property owners’) concerns, we must remain undaunted against further attacks against the industry in Concord and across the state.”