Concord renters will have to wait a little longer to hear the City Council’s decision on a proposed rent control ordinance.
Dozens of landlords and several tenants showed up to Tuesday’s city council meeting, contributing to nearly four hours of public comment on the city’s proposed rent control ordinance. Although the vote was originally scheduled for that night, the council decided to defer the decision to Feb. 13.
The proposed ordinance would limit rent increases to either 60% of the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or 3% of current rates — 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.
The ordinance also would require that landlords have “just cause” to evict a tenant, and provide protections and sometimes compensation for tenants for “no-fault evictions,” such as when the owner wants to move into the unit or when the unit needs substantial renovations.
Tenant organizations in Concord have been working since at least 2016 to pass stronger protections for renters and keep them in their homes. But they have faced pushback from property owner associations resistant to further regulation.
Derek Barnes, CEO of the East Bay Rental Housing Association, said that the rental caps in Concord’s ordinance are “arbitrary” and discourage small property owners from keeping their units on the rental market.
“Rent control and just cause create conditions that drive small owner operators out of the business and ultimately come back to hurt renters in the end,” he said in an interview.
But tenants organizations see rent control as a major step forward for a city in which two in five housing units in Concord are occupied by renters.
“Over the years, tenants in Concord have faced exorbitant rent increases, unjust eviction practices, and an escalating sense of housing instability,” said Kristi Laughlin, deputy director of the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy in Contra Costa. “The Tenant Protection Ordinance represents a crucial tool that empowers us to confront these challenges directly, providing essential safeguards for our residents.”
Other East Bay cities, such as Berkeley, Oakland and Richmond, have all passed rent control ordinances of their own.