On Tuesday, December 18, 2018, responding to complaints of high housing prices, the El Cerrito City Council considered four “Tenant Protection” ordinances. All four ordinances specifically excepted single-family homes and condominiums.
The Rent Review Program ordinance would have enacted rent review very similar to Albany’s, but without an application fee from the tenant. Like Albany’s ordinance, El Cerrito’s would have had a five percent threshold, with rent increases above that allowing the tenant to request rent review before ECHO Housing. This ordinance did not pass.
The Minimum Lease Terms ordinance requires property owners to offer a minimum twelve-month lease to new tenants, current month-to-month tenants and upon expiry of leases. This ordinance passed.
The Termination of Tenancy ordinance requires property owners to report to the city when they terminate tenancies or evict tenants. The City wants to collect this information so that it has more information about the number of tenancy terminations and evictions. This ordinance passed.
The Tenant Relocation ordinance requires that property owners provide relocation assistance when displacing a tenant, including for remodeling or removal for market, in the form of a refund of the security deposit less damages, a subscription to a rental agency service, and three months’ rent for an equivalent unit. Additional assistance is mandated for special circumstances households, e.g., the elderly and disabled. This ordinance passed.
The ordinances are published online here.
The passage is tentative and must be approved by another vote. This was originally scheduled for Tuesday, January 15, but is going to be postponed until Tuesday February 18, 2019.
If you are a resident of or have rental property in El Cerrito, please consider contacting the City Council with your opinions. Many property owners are unaware of these ordinances because the City did not send notification to property owners, despite the fact that the City knows who the property owners are, having a database of business license holders.