The Goleta City Council is expected Tuesday to issue a temporary prohibition on no-fault evictions to prevent landlords from raising their base rent before new tenant protections go into effect next year.
According to a Goleta City Council meeting agenda report, a run of evictions has been reported in cities all over the state, including Goleta.
“Particularly troubling are reports that long-term renters, including some who have been in the same location for decades, are being displaced by landlords seeking to evict tenants in advance of the effective date of AB 1482,” read the report.
On Oct. 8 Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1482, the “Tenant Protections Act of 2019,” to address rent gouging and arbitrary evictions.
The bill will prohibit an owner of residential real property from, over the course of any 12-month period, increasing the gross rental rate for a dwelling unit more than 5 percent plus the percent change in the cost of living, or 10 percent, whichever is lower, of the lowest gross rental rate charged for the previous 12 months, subject to specified conditions. It also requires landlords to pay relocation expenses or a rent waiver to tenants evicted without just cause.
The bill becomes effective on Jan. 1. It applies to residential real property built prior to Jan. 1, 2005.
City staff recommended the council adopt an uncodified urgency ordinance to prohibit no-fault evictions through Dec. 31.
If adopted, the ordinance would take effect immediately.
“New state law prohibits evictions without just cause and owners of residential real property from increasing rents each year by a specified amount. The proposed Ordinance seeks to protect renters from no-fault evictions … in advance of the state law’s effective date to prevent rent gouging and no-cause displacement of tenants and the resulting destabilization of the housing market and potential increase of homelessness and loss of affordable housing,” reads the report.
The Goleta City Council meets at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Goleta City Hall, 130 Cremona Drive, Suite B.
email: pgonzalez@newspress.com
