Richmond rent control under attack again by the California Apartment Association

Richmond rent control under attack again by the California Apartment Association

By Lynda Carson - January 5, 2017

Earlier today it was posted on Richmond Mayor Tom Butt’s website that the California Apartment Association (CAA) is planning to file a temporary restraining order against the City of Richmond with the Contra Costa County Superior Court regarding Richmond’s Measure L, rent control and just cause eviction protections. The court appearance is scheduled to take place at 10:00 A.M. on Friday January 6, 2017, in Department 17, Room 301, before the Honorable Barry Goode, at 725 Court Street, Martinez, California.

Mayor Tom Butt is in bed with the CAA, and is a landlord who is in opposition to Measure L (renter protections). Mayor Tom Butt condones the mass evictions that have been occurring in Richmond.

After a long hard struggle of opposition against the California Apartment Association, landlords, realtors and speculators, the “Richmond Fair Rent, Just Cause for Eviction, and Homeowner Protection Ordinance,” known as Measure L, was passed by the voters on November 8. Renter protection ballot measures were passed by the voters in three Bay Area cities on November 8, including Richmond.

The Richmond City Council certified the results of the November 8 election, that passed Measure L, at it’s December 20, 2016, meeting, and the ordinance will became effective on December 30. The ordinance is expected to protect tens of thousands of renters against landlords involved in price gouging, and eviction-for-profit schemes.

In a December 13, email, from Richmond City Councilwoman Gayle McLaughlin, she wrote: “I very much look forward to getting our rent control/just cause for eviction ordinance fully implemented.  Tenants will have more protection than ever before in the City of Richmond.  This is an historic milestone.  Each and every one of our residents deserves a stable home and while we've always said, this ordinance is but one tool in the toolbox, it is most definitely a positive step in assuring affordable homes for all.”

The median rental price for an apartment in Richmond during October, 2016, is $2,381 per month, according to Zillow. Out of 39,772 housing units in Richmond, 50.6% of the housing units are renter occupied.

Eviction protections in Richmond are long overdue, and reportedly, Richmond has more evictions than any other city in Contra Costa County

Despite the mass evictions occurring in Richmond, during September 2016, Mayor Tom Butt who condones the mass evictions occurring in Richmond, voted against an emergency moratorium against rent hikes and evictions. It was reported that Mayor Tom Butt is in bed with the notorious California Apartment Association, CAA. The CAA is a wealthy pro-landlord organization that opposes renter protections. The CAA recently spent a fortune in the effort to block renter protections from taking effect in the Bay Area.

On December 22, 2016, the CAA bragged on it’s website that they took the City of Mountain View to court to block renter protections from taking effect in their town, which places thousands of tenants at risk of eviction.

With the CAA meddling in the affairs of Richmond again, in an effort to block renter protections and the will of the people, this notorious organization is attempting to place thousands of the poor and working class citizens at risk of eviction, and exorbitant rent increases, by attacking Measure L, and the City of Richmond.

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com

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