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Angie Watson-Hajjem:Hello Alameda. Welcome to the Island City Beat podcast. I'm your host Angie Watson-Hajjem In 2019, the City of Alameda created the Alameda Rent Program, which provides protections for tenants for things like no fault evictions and excessive rent increases. Today, I'm talking to Bill Chapin, who is the Rent Program Director, and he'll be talking to us more about the Rent Program and how it's helping to provide greater housing security to some of our tenants who live here in Alameda.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:Bill, welcome to our show. Thank you for being here.
Bill Chapin:Thank you, Angie.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:So I know before 2019, before the Alameda Rent program came into existence, there was a mechanism that was in place where a tenant, if they got a rent increase and they want to dispute that rent increase, they could go and have their case heard in front of a body of mediators that would hear their case and decide if the rent increase should go forward or not. And so that ended. And then we got the elevator rent program in 2019. So give us kind of evolution of how the rent program came to be and how it differs from what we had before.
Bill Chapin:Sure. So when the city first established that kind of mediation based system, they sought a vendor to implement it and went with the the housing authority of the city of Alameda, which is a separate entity from the city government. And they handled that mediation process for those first three years. And then during 2019, the city council made the decision to put in place a more traditional, I guess you would say, control program, where there is an actual percentage cap on the amount of rent increases that landlords are permitted to do. And the, the rent program as it existed prior to 2019 transferred, its focus on to implementing this, new system.
Bill Chapin:And then we did in 2022, the the rent program and staff were transferred from the housing authority to the city government of the city of Alameda as department within the city attorney's office.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:So we have rent control here. Basically, we have rent caps on rent. So what is the maximum amount of percentage that a landlord could charge a tenant for a rent increase? What's the maximum?
Bill Chapin:So the rent ordinance establishes what we call an annual general adjustment. And that means for most rental units, the rent can only be adjusted once annually. And that adjustment is capped at 70% of the change in the consumer price index for this region that includes Alameda here. So currently, that is 2.7%. But as of September 1, due to the, the new CPI numbers that came out, that's going be going down to just 1%.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:So you're saying that the manager owner can only charge a rent increase of 1%?
Bill Chapin:Effective on September 1, it's going to be the limit.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:Okay. All right. So if a tenant gets a rent increase more than 1%, what can he or she do?
Bill Chapin:A tenant can always reach out to the rent program and ask for staff to review a rent increase notice that they have received. There are some rental units in the city that that 1% upcoming cap does not apply to. There are some units that it does, and rent program staff is trained to look at, the the details of, the rent increase notice and the details of the unit and to make a determination about whether the rent increases valid or not. Any tenant can request for staff to do a review of a notice that they've received.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:So Bill, what properties are exempt that wouldn't follow the rent program?
Bill Chapin:Right. So it does get a little complicated, and I'll try not to get too into, the weeds. But there is a state law, called Costa Hawkins that prevents cities like Alameda from imposing their rent increase cap on certain types of units. So generally, we are talking about single family homes and condominiums, as well as anything built after 1995. Now, about 80% of the rental units in Alameda, don't fall into that category.
Bill Chapin:So our local, annual general adjustment applies to those 80% of units, but that remaining 20% is not subject to our local limit. However, that 20% is further broken down into some units that are subject to a less stringent, statewide rent cap that we as the rent program can also enforce. So, I guess the bottom line is you may have heard that single family homes or even duplexes are exempt from rent control in California. And there's nothing you can do if you get a huge, rent increase, but it's not quite that simple anymore. So, if you're, I would just say if you're a tenant, regardless of the type of unit that you live in, or if you're a landlord and you're just confused about what you're permitted to do, give our give our office a call and our staff will figure out what level of regulation applies.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:You guys will do the hard work in figuring out what applies and what doesn't.
Bill Chapin:Yes.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:Yeah. Now I know that there's also relocation fees paid out to a tenant if they, you know, got a notice to vacate for for no reason at all. I mean, they're, you know, paying their rent or a good tenant, but the manager owner says, you know, you gotta get out. Tell us how that, relocation process works.
Bill Chapin:Sure. So the most important thing, I think, for tenants to know is that, outside of things that are the fault of the tenant, like failing to pay rent or a breach of the lease, there are only certain grounds for which a landlord can end your tenancy. They can't, for example, make you move out just because your lease is up. And that's kind of a big change from what folks were used to for many years. So for the most part, it's only one of two things.
Bill Chapin:It's either that the landlord wants to move into the unit and use it as their own primary residence, or they wanna get out of the landlording business entirely, and they're going to be permanently removing the entire property from the rental market. So when either of those things happen, there are requirements, the about what needs to be filed with the rent program, office, and then, the tenant is owed a relocation fee. That amount varies from about $6,000 to it can be as much as more than $17,000 And that depends on the number of bedrooms in the unit and whether the tenant household has anybody in it who is a senior or who has a disability or who has a child.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:Wow. Now what about people that have a Section eight voucher? They sometimes get rent increases as well. Would they be able to get help on the Alameda rent program?
Bill Chapin:So we can't help them with rent increases, but we can help them if they receive a notice to vacate. So the housing authority, is the entity that handles the Section eight program and vouchers, they have. Their own rules and regulations about how landlords can increase rent and how much of that is the tenants responsibility so for any questions about rent increases if a tenant is a voucher recipient, they should direct those questions to the housing authority, which again, it's a little confusing. The name makes it confusing, but they are a separate entity from the city government and us here at the rent program. But those section eight tenancies are still subject to the rent ordinances limits on evictions and those relocation payment requirements that I mentioned, so definitely call us in those situations.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:I have a question about, like, if a landlord wanted to make capital improvements on their property, can they transfer the cost of those improvements to their tenants? How does that work?
Bill Chapin:Sure. So, the city council, did make some changes to this policy that went into effect last year. So, yes, there are certain types of improvements that are eligible for the landlord to take the cost of those and to pass them through to tenants. But everything needs to be filed and approved by the rent program. It is only available for properties with less than 25 units, and for properties with five to 24 units.
Bill Chapin:The landlord can only pass through a certain percentage of those costs. And then there are limits on what the size of that monthly pass through can be. So rent program staff takes care of making sure that all of those regulations are met. And I'll just add that these cases are still relatively rare. Had we approved a total of just four of them during the first half of this year.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:I also thought you guys do some munitions between landlords and tenants when different disputes come up between the two. What are some common issues that you're seeing that are rising between our landlords and our tenants here in Alameda?
Bill Chapin:Yeah, so our mediation program is handled by a specialist in our department. They review housing complaints that are submitted and identifies where there might be a clear violation of the rent ordinance that the rent program itself can handle kind of through normal processes. Or even in some cases where there's been some sort of egregious violation or harassment that maybe the city attorney's prosecution unit may want to step in and file something in court. But in those cases where there's more of a gray area, and if both parties are open to the idea, he can lead a mediation where they try to come to an agreement. Last year, we had a couple of cases where tenants were alleging harassment.
Bill Chapin:The landlord was saying that the tenant was misrepresenting the situation. And there was not enough documented evidence that the prosecution unit felt that there was something that they could do. So in those cases, Rico was able to help the parties, arrive at a settlement where the tenant got some compensation to help them relocate, and the landlord got some favorable terms and helped them avoid, like, a a full fair housing case, being filed against them.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:That's great. That's great. I know you guys do the landlord tenant disputes. Do you guys also do tenant tenant disputes, remediations around that? We were just having a problem with your next door neighbor.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:Yeah. Too much music going on.
Bill Chapin:We do not, and we do get those inquiries. We just had one the other day. But the the the rent program our regulations specifically say that things like noise disputes between neighbors aren't aren't possible to use as grounds when you're seeking. What we call a downward rent adjustment there's a whole process that's available. Where you can file a petition based on that, but you it's not available, based on these neighbor neighbor disputes and the the mediation program staffs time there is really limited so currently he only looks at landlord tenant disputes but.
Bill Chapin:Our staff really does always try to always refer a caller to someone who's able to help or may be able to help. So we have a listing of housing resources that includes legal service providers. We give that out a lot. There are other mediation services. Providers who may be able to take on a dispute like that and and, of course, we always advise tenants to speak to the police department if.
Bill Chapin:A dispute has reached a point where they feel like there's a safety concern.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:Yeah. So as we end our conversation, Bill, what do you want people out there listening to our podcast to know about the Alameda Rent Program? Anything that we didn't talk about?
Bill Chapin:Sure. So, you know, the the big thing is we really look at ourselves as trying to educate the public about the rent ordinance and to be here as a service to answer people's questions about it. That's the biggest thing we do is respond to inquiries from the public. We average about seven fifty calls and emails and submissions each month. And seven fifty
Angie Watson-Hajjem:over there.
Bill Chapin:And we have a knowledgeable staff on hand that's able to help both landlords and tenants navigate and understand what can be an admittedly complex set of regulations. So, you know, especially for our landlords who are listening. I encourage you to look at us as a resource that's available to you and to reach out to us before if you have any questions uncertainty reach out to us before you, take action, with with a tenant and possibly get yourself in trouble, and we can we can help you avoid that.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:Good advice. Good advice. So, Bill, this has been so informative. I have one last very important question to ask you. I know that you love riding your bike around Alameda.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:You and your family live here in our beautiful city, and you love listening to your music too loud. I have to ask you, what kind of music does Bill Chapin listen to when he's on his cargo bike riding on the island?
Bill Chapin:All kinds. A lot of, a lot of indie rock and indie pop, but also classic. I like classic soul. I like alternative country. I, I have a 12 year old daughter and she has me listening to Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter.
Bill Chapin:So every everything all the above.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:Well, keep enjoying your cargo bike riding and keep up the good work you guys are doing over there at the Alameda Rent program. It's been a pleasure talking to you.
Bill Chapin:Absolutely.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:Thank you. And I'm so happy that you all were able to listen in to this podcast. Please join us for another edition of our Island City Beat podcast in the near future. Until then, I am your host, Angie Watson-Hajjem.
Angie Watson-Hajjem:Goodbye, everyone.