Fremont to establish a rent review board

Team of five will oversee landlord-tenant disputes

The Fremont City Council has approved an ordinance that authorizes the creation of a rent review board to oversee landlordtenant disputes.

The ordinance also strengthens some rental regulations in the city’s code and replaces a rent resolution program in effect for 20 years.

The action follows more than two years of skirmishes between advocates pushing for rent control and landlords who don’t want it.

The vote on Tuesday was 4-1 with Councilman Vinnie Bacon dissenting because he was “very frustrated” by his colleagues’ unwillingness to more aggressively protect renters.

“We had a chance to do real rent control, that really would have restricted the amount that landlords could raise the rent,” Bacon said. “I believe that what we are doing tonight is effectively a token effort to make it look like we’re really doing something, but as others as have said, we are not.”

The ordinance takes effect on Jan. 1, 2018. By then, a five-member rent review board made up of two tenant and two landlord representatives, as well as a neutral party, will be established.

City staff had recommended a three-member board, but both landlords and renters asked for five at Tuesday’s meeting.

The board will hold public hearings when requested by tenants facing rent increases of more than 5 percent, but its findings will be non-binding.

In response to requests from landlord advocates, the council added a provision that said binding settlements can be agreed to between the landlord and tenant at rental review board meetings.

Under the new ordinance, landlords also will have to notify tenants of pending rent increases in multiple languages and provide reasons for those exceeding 5 percent.

Landlords found to be retaliating against tenants for seeking help will face a stiffer penalty — $2,000, up from $1,000.

The council also will hear annual reports on the new program to assess its effectiveness.

Of the 20 speakers who addressed the issue Tuesday, 14 were landlords or landlord advocates. While generally supporting the new ordinance, many suggested the rent review should kick in for increases of at least 7 percent instead of 5 percent, as is the case in other Bay Area cities such as Concord and San Leandro.

But city staff reports point out that 5 percent was chosen because rents in Fremont can be much higher on average than those in the other cities.

Tenant advocates told the council they would prefer to see a just-cause eviction ordinance coupled with rent control. Lacking that, they added, the review board should get involved when rents could increase by 3 percent.

They also asked that landlords be required to provide relocation assistance money to tenants forced to leave because of rent increases. The council didn’t include that in the ordinance. “We strongly believe that this proposal does not make substantive changes to the existing program nor does it actually protect tenants,” Mashael Majid, of the renter advocacy group Urban Habitat, said at the meeting.

Councilman David Bonaccorsi disagreed. In July, when the council last discussed the issue, he said he wanted to put the existing rent review program “on steroids.” He said Tuesday the new ordinance does that.

“I do believe this is on steroids. A rent review board is a significant improvement in what we had before, where we have public attention brought to it,” he said.

Councilman Raj Salwan agreed, saying the meetings will add transparency, allowing tenants and landlords to “duke it out in a public setting.”

Mayor Lily Mei said she thinks the prospect of being on camera in a public meeting discussing rental agreements will motivate landlords to negotiate fair increases to avoid that.

Bacon, meanwhile, said he thinks Fremont could learn from cities that have adopted real rent control, such as Berkeley and Oakland, which he called “wonderful,” drawing jeers and laughs from the audience.

He said renters who are already struggling to get by while working full-time jobs and possibly raising kids won’t have time to go through the process.

“This is not going to make a significant difference in people’s lives,’ he said.