Tenant Protections Sought in the County

Members of My Eden Voice demonstrate for stronger tenant protections in San Lorenzo on February 4, 2023 at a ribbon-cutting for Hesperian Boulevard improvements.

Alameda County’s Board of Supervisors postponed considering expanded renter protections in the county’s unincorporated areas including Castro Valley at its meeting last Tuesday, February 27. 

One ordinance deals with just-cause eviction and other tenant protections, while the other expands the use of mediation for landlord-tenant disputes. Both were introduced by Supervisor Nate Miley, who represents Castro Valley and most of the unincorporated areas on the board.  They had been drafted by the county’s Community Development Agency after Miley hosted several public discussions. 

My Eden Voice, a tenant advocacy group, decried the postponement by board vice president David Haubert and what they see as continued lack of support for tenant rights by Miley. 

The ordinances come back up for discussion at the board’s scheduled March 26 meeting. 

“Miley has continued to disregard renters’ concerns in the unincorporated areas,” said Dave Thompson of My Eden Voice. 

The group said in a press release, “Rather, this current Just Cause proposal does the barest minimum to go beyond current state law.” 

Thompson said that the county needs to go beyond those state protections in limiting most evictions to a short list of just cause reasons, extending protections to those renting single-family houses, and letting tenants return to units they had to move out of due to the owner undertaking major renovations. 

In addition to those protections, the county ordinance would extend its provisions to tenants who had lived in their units for six months, rather than the year required by state law.

The California Apartment Association, representing rental property owners, praised the postponement on its website and urged members to show up at the March 26 meeting to express their opposition. 

“CAA supports the deferral as the association’s analysis of the ordinance finds many harmful provisions that unfairly punish housing providers for owning rental properties in Alameda County,” the group said. 

A stronger set of tenant protections before the board died last year when three supervisors including Miley abstained rather than vote on them, Thompson said.

The county’s required Housing Element is now a year overdue because it hasn’t analyzed why tenants are being displaced and how to remedy this, he said. State penalties against the county for continued noncompliance are possible, he added.

My Eden Voice will meet today to consider the next steps, Thompson said. 

You can find the website for My Eden Voice at www.myedenvoice.org. The California Apartment Association is at caanet.org.