Rent Stabilization Board Office of the Executive Director MEMORANDUM DATE: 12,2014 September TO: Committee SiForeclosure HonorableMembersof the Eviction/Section FROM: JayKelekian,ExecutiveDfuectof/ t ' Matt Brown,Staff Attorney MatthewSiegel,Staff Attorney'Þ Lief Bursell.AssistantPlanner ,4 SUBJECT: MeasureY TrackingReport(July2011- June2014) BACKGROUND In November 2000, in responseto a rash of owner-move-in evictions, Berkeley voters adopted MeasureY as an amendmentto the Rent Stabilization and Eviction for Good CauseOrdinance. MeasureY was subsequentlycodifred under Berkeley Municipal Code (B.M.C.) Section 13.76.130A.9placing restrictions and conditions on o.'wnerand/or relative occupancyevictions. Berkeley's owner-move-in law allows property owners and their qualifying relatives' to evict tenantsand move into rental units. Property owners who evict tenant householdsthat qualiff as low income are required to pay $4,500 relocation assistanceprior to the tenantsrelinquishing possessionof their rental units. MeasureY further requires fhat".. . at least twice annually, Rent Board Staff shall report to the Rent Board regardingthe occupancystatusof units possessionof which has beenrecovered. . . within the prior thirty-six months." Attached is a report detailing Measure Y evictions from July, 2011 through June, 2014. tB.M.C. 13.76.130A.9b. allows a landlord's spouse,child, or parentto evict a tenantfor occupancyin a rental unit. The owner or relative must intend to live in the unit for 36 continuous months. Additionally, with few exceptions, property owners may not evict seniorsor disabled tenantswho have occupied their rental units for five years or more in buildings with four or more units. 2I25 Milvia Street,Berkeley,California94704 ¡ FAX: (510)9814940 (981-RENT)o TDD: (s10)981-6903 TEL: (510)981-7368 ¡ INTERNET: www.citvofberkelev.infg/rent E-MAIL: [email protected] MeasureY Reportto Eviction/Section8/ForeclosureCommittee September12,2014 Page2 of5 SUMMARY OF ATTACHED REPORT SinceJuly 1,201I therehave beenforty-four (44) MeasureY eviction noticesfiled with the Rent Board. Of theseforty-four, fourteen notices were servedto tenantsin single family homes, fourteennotices were submitted to tenantsoccupying a unit in a duplex, thirteen to units in triplexes and three on fourplexes. Seechart immediately below. Unit designation Number of notices sent Unit currently tenant-occupied' Sinelefamily home Duplex Triplex 14 T4 13 a J U Fourolex a J 2 I Staff has conductedresearchinto theseforty-four casesby focusedmailing to eachrental unit that receivedan eviction notice. The letter requestedinformation regarding the current occupantsof the unit. Additionally, staff reviewed county records,property files, internal databases,conductedfollow-up counselingwith tenants,and (in many cases)performed on-site inspections.Of the forty-four notices,thirty-one were for owner-move-in and thirteen involved qualifying relative move-in evictions. Sixteentenant households(36% of the total that vacated their units pursuantto OMI notices) qualified as low-income and received $4,500 relocation paymentsduring this period. assistance NARRATIVE DATA FROM STAFF RESEARCH SineleFamily Homes- Of the fourteensinglefamily homesthat receivedowner-move-in(OMÐ notices,thirteen were Costa Hawkins exempt tenanciesand one is currently in dispute as to how many residentialunits are actually on the property with a RWN petition pending. Two OMI evictionsare of Section8 tenants. Of thesecases,staff s researchindicatesthat tenantsare still residing in three of theseunits; one landlord rescindedthe notice to vacateand one property appearsto still be undergoing constructionwork. Duplexes- Four of the units in duplexeswhere tenantsreceivedOMI notices would now qualify for exemptionunder B.M.C. 13.76.050F["golden duplex"]. Staff researchindicatesthat all of the units in duplexeswhere tenantsreceivedOMI notices are currently occupied by owners or relatives. Triplexes - Thirteen OMI notices were servedduring the recentreporting period. One unit receivedtwo separatenotices.Of the twelve tenanciesthat receivedOMI notices,one is still intact. Nine have had or are having the owner or family membermoving in and two are still underreview and investisation. 'The data regarding tenant occupancy in this column only includes units where staff has determinedthat a unit is tenant-occupied. There are several other casesthat staffcontinues to investigateto find out ifthe unit is tenant or owner-occupied. MeasureY Report to Eviction/Section 8ÆoreclosureCommittee September12,2014 Page3 of5 Fourplexes- For the most recentreportingperiod,threenoticeshavebeenservedon tenants residingin fourplexes.One caseis owner-occupiedand one casehashad a Costa-Hawkinsrent adjustmentwith a new rent ceiling that has beenapprovedby the agencyafter investigationand review. The last casehas recently gone to Superior Court after the landlord filed a writ of administrative mandatechallengingthe Board's decisionon appealof a Certificateof PermissibleRent Ceiling after the agencycertified the rent atthat of the last tenant at the time of the MeasureY eviction. The former tenant moved out pursuantto a SettlementAgreementwith the owner, and the owner subsequentlyrentedto a new tenant and instituted a Costa-Hawkinsvacancy rent increase.'That rent level was rejectedby staff and subsequentlychallengedby the owner. At hearing,the agencydenied the owners' appeal.The Superior Court has recently ruled in favor of the Board in this matter. STAFF MONITORING To ensurethat the tenant protections incorporatedinto MeasureY are not violated, Rent Board staff endeavorsto contact occupantsliving in units that have received OMI eviction notices at leastonce every six months. Staff sendsa letter to the unit notiffing the occupantof the proper rent ceiling if s/he is a tenant in the unit. Staff also researchesinformation in our databasesand county ownership information to ensurethat residencyinformation is correct. Furthermore,staff conductssite visits to attempt to ascertainwho lives in theserental units when there is a question as to whether a landlord lives in the unit after an OMI notice is sent. When staff finds fhat atenant is living in a rental unit following an OMI eviction, staff may contactthe owner andlor counselthe tenant to file a petition if the landlord is charging more than the restrictedrent ceiling allowed underRent Board Regulation1016. Additionally, staff will attemptto contactthe tenant(s)who were displacedfrom a rental unit due to an OMI notice to explain the tenants' rights if staff determinesthat the landlord has violated the Ordinance,and the tenant expressedan interest in being notif,redof changesin the rental unit's status. OWNERSHIP HISTORY PRIOR TO OMI FILING The committee has requesteddata showing the length of ownershiphistory prior to the filing of OMI notices.The chartbelow detailsthis history for the most recentreportingperiod' 33 (75%) of the noticeswere given by ownerswith interestin the property for under 5 years. 11 (25%) of owners gave notices after owning the property for 5 years or more. 3 Rent Board Regulation 1016 makes clear that even when the tenant and owner sign an agreementthat the tenant is leaving voluntarily after an owner has rescindedan owner move-in notice, the presumption still exists that the tenant left beõauseof the owner move-in notice and the rent will subsequentlybe restricted for the first tenancy following the vacancy. MeasureY Reportto Eviction/Section8/ForeclosureCommittee September12,2014 Paee4 of5 This data can be broken down fuither, for example: OwnershipPrior to notice # props. 20 lessthan 1 year >:1. lessthan 5 13 5 to 10years More than 10 years 5 6 CONCLUSIONS During the pastthree-yearperiod (July 2011-June2014)the Board receivedatotal of 44 MeasureY eviction notices.During the initial three-yearmonitoringperiod (December2000December2003),we received 110 eviction notices,over two and a half times the rate as the last three years.Equally notable, in the three months immediately precedingthe adoption and enactmentof MeasureY (September,OctoberandNovember2000) 47 noticesfor owner or relative occupancywere filed. More notices for owner occupancywere filed in the three months precedingpassageof Measure Y than were filed in the past 36 months. By any measure,the passageand diligent implementation of MeasureY have significantly reducedthe displacement of long-term tenants,which was commonplaceafter the imposition of vacancy decontrol. One condition establishedby Measure Y was a requirementthat the owner provide a $4,500 relocation assistancepayment to any displacedlow-income tenant who has residedin the unit for one year or more. Sincepassageof MeasureY roughly 25Yoof thosehouseholdsreceiving eviction notices for owner occupancyhave qualified for and benefitedfrom the low-income relocation assistanceprovisions of the ordinance."This number is particularly noteworthy if we of MeasureY eviction noticesare later rescinded considerthat historically between25o/o-300lo and the tenantsremain in the unit. When we back-outtheserescindedunits, the percentof MeasureY tenantsreceivinglow-incomerelocationis over 30% of thosehouseholdsbeing displaced. The chart below breaksdown in six-month periods,the number of Measure Y eviction notices the Boardhasreceivedsince September2000.The first reportingperiod on the table below only reflects a four-month period. As noted above,47 of the 56 evictions occurred during the three months prior to the adoption of MeasureY. While we did not track the number of owner move-in noticesreceivedprior to September2000, it was reportedthat the number of notices issuedduring the period from December 1997to December2000 was similar to or greaterthan the four-month period from September- December2000, before MeasureY becamelaw. Attachment 1: Table of MeasureY noticesfiled with the Rent Board for the period between September2000 through June 2014. Attachment 2: Sampleof letter sent to all rental units that receivedan owner-move-in eviction noticebetweenJuly 201land June 2014. o Sixteenhouseholdsthat received OMI eviction notices during the three year period reviewed in this report requiredby the Ordinance. qualif,redfor and receivedthe $4,500 relocationassistance MeasureY Reportto Eviction/Section SlForeclosure Committee September 12,2014 Page5 of5 Measure Y Eviction NoticesFiled With BerkelevRent Board Date of Eviction Notice Number of Notices Received - December September 2000 *(only four months) January- June2001 Julv- December 2001 Januarv- June2002 56 July- December 2002 January- June2003 32 2l t7 9 13 July- December 2003 January- June2004 l0 July- December 2004 January- June2005 5 July- December 2005 Januarv- June2006 July- December 2006 January- June2007 t4 t6 6 10 I 7 July- December 2007 January- June2008 2 Julv- December 2008 January- June2009 7 Julv- December 2009 January- June2010 July- December 2010 January- June2011 I 7 7 6 J 6 July- December 2011 January- June2012 2 Julv- December2012 Januarv- June2013 5 Julv- December 2013 Januarv-June2014 5 10 J 19 Rent StabilizationBoard February28,2014 Berkeley,CA947l0 RE: Owner Move-in eviction "t-Berkeley Dear occupant: Our recordsindicate that a prior tenantin your unit receivedan eviction notice so that the unit could be occupied by the owner or a closerelativeof the owner. Berkeley Municipal Code section 13.76.I30.A(9Xp) requiresthe Rent Board to monitor your unit for three yearsto ensure that the unit is, in fact; occupiedby the owner or a relative of the owner. Therefore,you will receive a letter like this onceevery six monthsduring this threeyearperiod. If you are the owner or a non-rent payingparent,spouse,domesticpartner,or child of the owner, it is not necessany for you to respondto this letter. If you are not the owner and are payingrent, your rent should not exceed: .57 $2,301 If you are paying rent in excessof this amount,pleasecontactme by March 17, 2014 at (5 10) 981-4903. Also, Rent BoardCounselorsareavailableto explainyour rights and options, including the procedurefor recoveringany rent overchargesyou have paid. An explanationof your rights may also be found on the Rent Board's web site: www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent. Sincerely, Matthew Siegel StaffAttorney Berkeley Rent Stabilization Program 2125MilviaStreet,Berkeley, California94704 TEL: (510)981-7 368! TDD:(510)981-6903 ! FAX: (510)98r-4940 E-MAIL: [email protected] ! INTERNET:www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/renf
© Copyright 2024 ExpyDoc
