Tenants file suit over hikes in rent
Three Sonoma County tenants of a 492-unit east Petaluma apartment complex are accusing their landlord of illegally raising their rent in a suit meant to cover thousands of other California renters.
The plaintiffs, all current or former residents of the Vineyard Luxury Apartments in Petaluma, claim apartment complex owner JRK Residential Group raised their rents higher than state law allows, citing a price gouging prohibition put in place after the 2017 wildfires and in effect through at least the end of this year.
The suit is seeking classaction status, which would allow it to cover any number of tenants in Northern and Southern California who experienced illegal rent hikes while leasing from JRK. The price gouging prohibition — put into place by then- Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017 and extended by Gov. Gavin Newsom — limits the cumulative increase of rent and certain goods and services to 10% above pre- emergency costs and also covers Mendocino, Napa, Butte, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
One of the plaintiffs, Herman Grishaver, began renting an apartment at The Vineyard after his townhouse at the Oaks in Fountaingrove complex burned in the Tubbs fire. Grishaver, a retired doctor, had moved to Santa Rosa from a small town in northern Pennsylvania in the summer of 2016.
Grishaver said his initial rent at the complex was about $2,666 and that his lease was extended multiple times while his Fountaingrove home was rebuilt. But in 2019, when he signed a new lease to stay at The Vineyard through May 2020, his rent increased to $3,054 — an increase of $388, or 14.6%.
The new rent seemed excessive to Grishaver, so he did some research. In addition to the 2017 price gouging prohibition, a new statewide tenant protection law capping rent increases at 10% annually took effect in January 2020 but included retroactive curbs on hikes dating back to March 2019.
Grishaver, who has since moved back into his Fountaingrove home, alleges the increase ordered by his former landlord last year conflicted with both sets of tenant safeguards. His attorney, Santa Rosa lawyer Josh Katz, provided The Press Democrat with rental documents that reflect the increase, which Grishaver called “kind of outrageous.”
“If they're responsible landlords, they have to know the law, and the law is clear,” Grishaver said.
Calls for comment and emails Wednesday and Thursday to representatives of The Vineyard apartment complex and its corporate headquarters in Los Angeles were not returned as of Saturday evening.
Another plaintiff in the lawsuit, Sharon Felker, started leasing an apartment in August 2016. Felker now works part time in a Sonoma clothing store and shares a two- bedroom unit with her daughter and three grandchildren