Title
Recommendation to Review and Comment on the City of Alameda Rent Stabilization Ordinance Review (May 2018) Prepared by Management Partners. (Community Development 265)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Elizabeth D. Warmerdam, Acting City Manager
Re: Recommendation to Review and Comment on the City of Alameda Rent Stabilization Ordinance Review (May 2018) Prepared by Management Partners
BACKGROUND
On May 16, 2017, as part of the process of considering amendments to the City’s Rent Review, Rent Stabilization and Limitations on Evictions Ordinance (Ordinance 3148), the City Council directed staff to retain a third-party consultant to review and make recommendations on three specific issues:
• Relocation benefits and the formula used to calculate those benefits for permanent and temporary tenancy terminations;
• Provisions regarding government-ordered terminations; and
• The role of the Rent Review Advisory Committee (RRAC) in the rent review hearing process, including possible use of professional mediators and/or hearing officers either with or in lieu of the RRAC.
These issues were considered more substantive than the other items the Council was considering as part of its deliberations and the Council felt it would benefit from an independent review.
At the time the independent review was directed, the Council had adopted Ordinance 3180, which amended Ordinance 3148. Subsequently, the City Council voted to rescind Ordinance 3180 after several landlord organizations secured enough signatures to subject the Ordinance to a referendum vote. The same landlord organizations then gathered enough signatures to put an initiative on the November 2018 ballot that, if approved, would make Ordinance 3148 a part of the City’s Charter. If successful, a vote of the people would be required any time the Ordinance is amended.
These two developments have limited the City’s ability to modify Ordinance 3148. City Council has been advised that, based on the Election Code, it should not consider amendments to Ordinance 3148 that were previously addressed in Ordinance 3180 for 12 months following the date the Ordinance was rescinded (September 2017). In addition, it is not practical to consider amendments to an Ordinance that may become part of the City’s Charter following the November 2018 election that would then have to be rescinded.
Therefore, the Rent Program Administrator continues to implement the City’s rent program consistent with Ordinance 3148. At the same time, staff moved forward with the requested independent review of the three issues described above. At the City Council’s May 18, 2018 work session, the Council requested that a discussion of the City of Alameda Rent Stabilization Ordinance Review (Report) (Exhibit 1) be provided as part of the Council’s 2018-2019 Work Plan. The Council gave further direction that it wanted staff to bring back a variety of issues regarding the Rent Program for consideration in December, after the November election.
As a result of this direction, staff scheduled a one-hour work session at which it is recommended that the City Council review and provide comments on the Report.
DISCUSSION
Following Council’s direction in May 2017, to conduct an independent review of relocation benefits, provisions of government-ordered terminations and the role of the RRAC in the rent review process, staff issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to retain a consultant to conduct the study. Staff received one proposal from Management Partners and retained the firm to conduct the review. Management Partners has extensive experience in working with Bay Area local governments to evaluate various aspects of rent stabilization programs. Management Partners has worked with Fremont, Richmond, and San Jose as they have looked at rent stabilization in their jurisdictions.
Management Partners worked independently and conducted its own outreach, meeting with landlord and tenant stakeholders and interviewing staff and RRAC members, as part of its research. Its report contains three major sections:
• Background and methodology;
• Research on rent stabilization ordinances in California with more in-depth information about ordinances in seven cities; and
• An analysis of the three focused areas of study, including a series of recommendations to strengthen the Rent Program.
The Report concludes that the City’s Ordinance is having the desired effect of discouraging displacing existing tenants to gain higher rent, providing financial assistance to tenants whose tenancy is terminated for no cause/no fault, and providing a forum under which landlords and tenants can resolve rent increase disputes.
The Report also identifies opportunities to improve the program’s equity, fairness and administration. These include the following:
• Tie relocation benefits to the Fair Market Rent (FMR) to provide a more equitable basis for relocation costs;
• Explore options to provide reduced relocation benefits for landlords of smaller properties;
• Require landlords to provide four-month advanced notice (versus 60 days) for no-cause/no fault terminations (except government-ordered terminations);
• Eliminate relocation benefit payments for government-ordered terminations due to no fault of the landlord;
• Maintain RRAC as a quasi-judicial decision-making body, but enhance mediation;
• Provide clear responsibilities and guidelines for RRAC members;
• Explore amending the Sunshine Ordinance to limit the sharing of private or personal information provided in writing to the RRAC; and
• Provide more training to the RRAC members on mediation, conducting hearings and making recommendations.
Specific recommendations are contained in Attachment A of the Report.
Exhibit 2 is a letter from the Rent Program Administrator staff providing feedback and status updates regarding a number of recommendations contained in the Report. Program Administrator staff input is focused on possible impacts of some of the recommendations on program administration cost and effectiveness, clarification on how staff is currently implementing the program, and updates on improvements made to the Rent Program website, trainings provided to staff and RRAC members and the role of mediation in the Rent Program.
Following a presentation by Management Partners, staff is requesting that the City Council provide comments on the Report’s findings and recommendations. No action is requested at this work session.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no impact to the General Fund from receiving the City of Alameda Rent Ordinance Review Report.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
The requested Report was undertaken to make recommendations regarding three provisions of the City’s Rent Review, Rent Stabilization and Limitations on Evictions Ordinance (Ordinance 3148).
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Receiving a Report, City of Alameda Rent Ordinance Review, is not considered a project pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21065 and California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines section 15378. Therefore, no environmental review is required.
RECOMMENDATION
Review and comment on the City of Alameda Rent Stabilization Ordinance review (May 2018) prepared by Management Partners.
Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Potter, Community Development Director
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Elena Adair, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. Rent Stabilization Review
2. Program Administrator Letter