Rent-freeze plan is dropped

City Council likely to seek quick implementation of 8 percent to 5 percent cap

“We decided that it might be more efficient to just implement the drop immediately— as quickly as possible— to go from8percent to5 percent.” — JackyMorales-Ferrand, San Jose housing director

SAN JOSE — When a divided City Council two weeks ago mustered the votes to lower maximum rent hikes in 44,000 apartments from 8 percent to 5 percent, there was concern that landlords would jack up rent before the rule goes into effect next fall.

But city officials have now abandoned the idea of a rent freeze to prevent last-minute increases, and instead are pushing to have the new law take effect sooner.

“We decided that it might be more efficient to just implement the drop immediately — as quickly as possible — to go from 8 percent to 5 percent,” said Jacky Morales-Ferrand, the city’s housing director. “Then we wouldn’t have to address the issue of the freeze, which frankly I thought would have many more concerns and challenges from landlords.”

The City Council next week will choose between two options: passing an “urgency” ordinance so changes take effect within days, or a second option that would implement changes by the end of June.

An urgency ordinance requires a “super majority” vote from the council — at least eight members would have to agree. That could be an uphill battle for a council that passed the lower rent increase cap by just one vote April 19. If there aren’t enough votes for an urgency ordinance, the other option is to adopt a regular ordinance, which requires several public hearings and wouldn’t take effect until 30 days after its passage.

Morales-Ferrand says making changes sooner is better to “protect tenants as quickly as possible.”

And relief can’t come quickly enough for Nicole Lindera, a

37-year-old health care worker who’s lived in San Jose for more than a decade. Shortly after the City Council voted to decrease rent hikes, she got a notice from her landlord: Rent is going up 8 percent on June 1. She pays $1,680 for a two-bed apartment built in the ‘60s with no air conditioning.

“I’ve had to cut back on my groceries and can’t afford to buy the things my son needs for school,” Lindera said, adding that her fiance has worked four jobs to make ends meet. “The rent increases need to stop. Give the working people a break — we are hardworking families.”

But landlords have fought against the changes, saying rent increases allow them to invest in their buildings and stay in business.

Joshua Howard of the California Apartment Association says the city’s existing rent control law was working well and rent freezes would have been “overly punitive.” “It sends the message from City Hall that they don’t trust the housing providers in San Jose,” Howard said. “It seems like an overreaction to an unfounded concern.”

Howard said most landlords assumed the changes would go into effect in early 2017 but even that might not be enough time.

The City Council next week also will consider a handful of policies to protect renters if a landlord de- cides to close an apartment complex, convert to condominiums or demolish the property. The Ellis Act, one of the policies under consideration, would protect against landlords evicting existing tenants to re-rent apartments to others at a higher rate.

In other cities, these policies require property owners to provide relocation benefits, give proper notice and replace the rentcontrolled units somewhere else in the city.

City officials also will work on a plan to increase staffing to monitor and enforce the new requirements.