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San Jose Renters Get Help From City Over Skyrocketing Rent Complaints

SAN JOSE (KCBS)— The San Jose City Council has voted to almost double the budget of the rent arbitration panel. The action comes as rents continue to skyrocket and so do the complaints.

Since 2011, average apartment rents in San Jose have shot up 25 percent according to Realfacts.com. City Councilman Sam Liccardo said the city has long had among the highest rents in the country.

"The rate of growth of rents in just the last year or two has been stratospheric and the impact on our families has been severe," he said.

Oswaldo said the rent on his apartment has increased $350 a month since he moved in two years ago.

San Jose Renters Get Help From City Over Skyrocketing Rent Complaints

"This year they kind of like raise the price like every six months," he said. He claimed his apartment has already gone up by $200 in the last year alone.

The funding increase will provide more mediation services for the many renters who have disputes with their landlords over rapidly-rising rents.

"Our goal is to see how we can keep more families in their homes," Liccardo said.

(Copyright 2014 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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