New rent stabilization and eviction policies will come to Concord
The financial toll of annual rent hikes and evictions will soon be slightly less burdensome for renters living in roughly 18,100 dwellings in the East Bay.
Concord lawmakers recently agreed to increase “just cause” eviction protections to most of the city's tenants and establish rent stabilization for roughly half of its rental stock — a culmination of months of hourslong meetings to complete an effort that's been in the works since 2016.
A majority of the Concord City Council and regional housing advocates praised the additions to the city's tenant protections ordinance, citing stats that show renters occupy approximately 40% of all housing units in the city, and nearly half of those residents shell out more than 30% of their income on housing costs.
While these policies are still relatively rare — of the 538 cities and counties in California, only 26 have enacted rent stabilization policies, while 43 include just cause for eviction policies beyond state law — Concord is now aligned with similar local efforts in Berkeley, Oakland and Richmond.
Councilmember Laura Nakamura said she hopes the new ordinance will help create a sustainable housing market and prevent residents from being displaced or falling into homelessness. While she vowed to revisit the issue if problems arise for local property owners, she noted that 78% of all rental homes are owned by investors from outside of Concord.
“I am very excited to see that this will stabilize our community, our neighbors, and that people will hopefully feel secure in their homes,” Nakamura said during the Feb. 13 council meeting. “Tenants in Concord have not had a lot of choices, and I think tonight that this really centers the voices of the people who really have needed our help.”
The rules dictating what landlords can and cannot do — as well as how renters can respond — are complex and are not applied in the same way across all homes. The full 30-page ordinance and broad summaries are posted online at cityofconcord.org.
Notably, exemptions from rent stabilization were carved out for several types of rentals, including single family homes, some condos and select affordable housing units where annual rent caps are already contracted at 5% or tenants earn salaries higher than low-income ceilings. Landlords of each of these properties must still follow the rules of “just cause” evictions.
However, Concord residents who live in accessory dwelling units, governmentowned housing or on the other side of an owner-occupied duplex, among others, do not have any protections for rent stabilization and just cause evictions.
These newly drafted laws will take effect April 4, 2024, unless a majority of the council chooses to reject them in a final vote, which seems unlikely. The Concord City Council approved the final laundry list of changes in a 4-1 vote. Councilmember Laura Hoffmeister was the lone “no” vote.
For multifamily rental units that were built before Feb. 1, 1995, as well as rented out mobile homes, the new ordinance caps rent increases at 3% or 60% of the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. For a median-priced apartment in Concord at $2,449, a renter would face a rent increase of no more than $73, for example.
When current tenants in Concord are permanently relocated out of a home in a “no fault” eviction — such as an owner moving into that space, taking the entire property off the rental market or constructing substantial rehabilitations — the ordinance requires that landlords pay relocation payments and moving stipends.