California bill likely to bring rent control to Santa Rosa, other cities

After last year’s failed state referendum to allow wider local rent caps and the 2017 rejection by voters of Santa Rosa’s version of rent control, tenants in the city and elsewhere will see their rent increases capped, following Gov. Gavin Newsom’s expected approval of bill that recently passed the Legislature.

Rent hikes for tenants living in many apartments older than 15 years will be capped at 5% annually after inflation or 10%, whichever is lower, per Assembly Bill 1482, which was approved Wednesday.

AB 1482 also contains just-cause eviction policies, which, like a limited form of rent control, was part of a renter protection package the Santa Rosa City Council passed in 2016. Following an extensive campaign by landlords, Santa Rosa voters narrowly shot down that measure in a referendum the following spring, undoing the local cap on rent hikes of 3% annually for more than 11,000 apartments built in Santa Rosa before 1995.

Councilwoman Julie Combs, who is a landlord and supported Santa Rosa’s previous rent control efforts, said she was “thrilled” by the statewide enactment of rent-increase limits and eviction protections, though she would prefer a more stringent cap on rent hikes.

“It’s what they could get through, but it’s too high for folks who are trying to stay in an apartment on the fringe of affordability,” she said.

The statewide rent control, like other provisions in the bill, will expire in 2030, and comes with Newsom’s claim that the measure is the “strongest package of renter protections in the country.”

“These anti-gouging and eviction protections will help families afford to keep a roof over their heads, and they will provide California with important new tools to combat our state’s broader housing and affordability crisis,” Newsom said in a statement Wednesday.

The bill’s passage comes less than a year after California voters soundly defeated Proposition 10, which attempted to repeal a 1995 law barring cities and counties from capping rent hikes on relatively new homes.

A kind of rent control has been in effect locally since the October 2017 wildfires, which destroyed more than 3,000 Santa Rosa homes, wiping out 5% of the housing stock of a city already experiencing a shortage of affordable housing. The disaster prompted then-Gov. Jerry Brown and Newsom to issue a series of orders establishing emergency price-gouging protections that have limited rate hikes in Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties to 10% over their pre-fire rates.

The passage of statewide rent control comes as Santa Rosa’s current City Council is poised to consider a slew of other housing- and renter-?related policies before the end of 2019. A rental inspection program, a proposal to ban discrimination against tenants who use government rental subsidies and new policies meant to spur new affordable housing all are on tap for the council in the coming months.

The council previously considered taking action to ban landlords from denying rooms to people who hold federal vouchers to cover rental costs but postponed action at an August meeting. Its delay followed a surge of concern from local landlords, prompting city officials to acknowledge that their pre-vote outreach had been insufficient.

The rescheduled vote on the anti-discrimination ordinance has been set for Sept. 24, the same day the council will hold a study session on the proposed rental inspection program.

The council has already studied options to update its affordable housing mandates and could vote on new policies as early as Oct. 1. The rental inspection program isn’t expected to be voted on until November, according to city documents.

The Legislature also has passed its own ban on rejecting tenants because they hold federal housing subsidy vouchers. Combs said she was studying the state’s version to see what role such an ordinance in Santa Rosa might fill.

Lawmakers are set to take a break after the close of action Friday, the last day bills can be sent to the governor. Newsom will have until Oct. 13 to sign AB 1482 and the rest of the bills passed by lawmakers.

This article includes information from the Associated Press. You can reach Staff Writer Will Schmitt at 707-521-5207 or will.schmitt@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @wsreports.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the nature of caps on rent increases after the 2017 wildfires.