Pending Ordinance To Cap San Jose Rent Triggers Wave Of Rent Increases
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) - San Jose has approved a 5 percent cap on rent hikes, expected to take effect in the fall. But that delay may be having unintended consequences.
Sacred Heart Community Center organizer Matthew Reed said, "We're seeing a lot of people getting eight percent rent increases since the last city council meeting."
The new law was supposed to tame San Jose's red-hot rental market, but it appears to have backfired, triggering instead a wave of rent increases before it takes effect.
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said, "We have received calls from tenants saying, 'We're receiving raises in our rent. And we think it's because of the pending ordinance.'"
Liccardo is urging the city council to pass an emergency measure, allowing the city's new rent control policy, which lowers the maximum annual increase from 8 to 5 percent, to immediately become law.
Without that. housing advocates fear the city may end up hurting the very people they intended to help.
Reed said, "It's really de-stabilizing to families. People don't know what to expect. And usually, it ends up being a really significant increase."
San Jose landlord Roberta Moore said, "Most of us care about our renters."
Moore said the city's rental control policy is well-intentioned, but misguided.
She said tenants are already suffering the unintended consequences of a policy that ignores the basic economic realities of running a business.
"They're putting me in a position where I can't even go two years without raising my rent. And that's the saddest part. I'm going to lose tenants and have higher turnover," Moore said.
Rent, in recent years, has gone through the roof and no one disputes that. But what will help or hurt the situation remains a matter of debate.
