In the City of San Jose REALTORS® and their clients own many rental properties and play a vital role in providing safe well-maintained housing. On Tuesday, April 18th the San Jose City Council will consider new measures that attempt to make housing more affordable; instead, the proposals make the costs of maintaining and managing rental property more uncertain and expensive for good tenants and landlords alike, while giving bad actors the tools to abuse the new laws. SCCAOR supports efforts to help renters in San Jose, but does not believe costly mandates make housing more affordable for all.
The Ellis Act Ordinance:
•Under the Ellis Act, if you choose to redevelop your property but continue to operate it as a rental property, all the replaced units and any additional units you might add will be subjected to rent control. Tell the Council to support policies that add more housing not limit it. Ask them to exempt new units from the rent control law.
•If you choose to redevelop your rent controlled property as for sale housing you will be required to pay out each tenant thousands of dollars. This is on top of other development fees and costs the city already imposes.
•Read the proposed Ellis Act Ordinance by clicking here.
The Tenant Protection Ordinance:
•Tenants have the ability to file frivolous claims for repair because the City does NOT require verification that the claims are legitimate. This will grant tenants the ability to file frivolous claims to extend their just cause protection endlessly.
•Tenants have no responsibility to prove that any claims they make are true, they are essentially given unlimited protection under this new law. The burden of proof is on the landlords to prove the tenants are being truthful.
•Under this law, a landlord would have to provide evidence of a lease violation or proof that an illegal act was committed to evict a tenant. This harms a landlord’s ability to keep their good tenants safe from their bad ones.
•Read the proposed Tenant Protection Ordinance by clicking here.
How Can You Help?
Attend the San Jose City Council Meeting on April 18th
Where: 200 E Santa Clara St, San Jose, CA 95113
When: Tuesday, April 18th at 1:30 PM