LAW AND LEGISLATION COMMITTEE
Katie Valenzuela, Chair, District 4
Lisa Kaplan, District 1
Eric Guerra, District 6
Rick Jennings, II, District 7
CITY COUNCIL
Darrell Steinberg, Mayor
Lisa Kaplan, District 1
Sean Loloee, District 2
Karina Talamantes, District 3
Katie Valenzuela, District 4
Caity Maple, District 5
Eric Guerra, Vice Mayor, District 6
Rick Jennings, II, District 7
Mai Vang, Mayor Pro Tem, District 8
COMMITTEE STAFF
Wendy Klock-Johnson, Assistant City Clerk
Steve Itagaki, Supervising Deputy City Attorney
Consuelo Hernandez, Director of Governmental Affairs
Law and Legislation Committee/
City Council
City Hall-Council Chamber
915 I Street, 1st Floor
Published by the Office of the City Clerk
(916) 808-7200
CORRESPONDENCE
Description of Attached: Correspondence received after Agenda was published.
For the Meeting of: Tuesday, August 15, at 11:00 a.m.
Agenda Item: Discussion Item 5
5. (Law and Legislation Committee/City Council) Councilmember Proposal Request for Committee Consideration -Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance (TAHO)
File ID: 2023-00737
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Determine whether staff should continue to work on the proposal for a Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance or other policy related to tenants.
Contact: Jose Mendez, Code Enforcement Manager, 916-808-5497, [email protected], Community Development Department, Peter Lemos, Code and Housing Enforcement Chief, 916-808-8183, [email protected], Community Development Department
August 10, 2023
Councilmember Caity Maple
City of Sacramento, District 5
915 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Sent via email to: [email protected]
RE: Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance
Dear Councilmember Maple,
Thank you for your invitation to Legal Services of Northern California (LSNC) regarding the need for a Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance. Based on our decades of representing tenants in the Sacramento region we believe the proposed Ordinance will provide an important tool for tenants to enforce their rights and help them remain housed and avoid homelessness.
LSNC’s mission is to provide quality legal services to empower the poor to identify and defeat the causes and effects of poverty within our community. For over 60 years, LSNC has provided free civil legal services to lower income families and individuals throughout Sacramento County, as well as 22 other counties. We assist clients with housing, public benefits, health, and civil rights legal matters. Most of our clients are extremely low income households. A lack of affordable and safe rental housing is the number one issue clients contact us about.
In Sacramento County, over 200,000 residents are eligible for our services and the Sacramento County office presently has only three attorneys. Even when fully staffed, at most, we have ten attorneys. As a result, there are always many more residents who need us than we can fully assist, and not only in just housing matters, but for our legal assistance in other priority areas of public benefits and civil rights.
Whether represented by LSNC or not, strong tenant protections and mechanisms to enforce such protections both in eviction cases as well as small claims court are critical for all tenants. Absent such enforcement and clear consequences like the statutory damages provided by the Ordinance, tenants have very little practical recourse against landlords who violate the law.
Tenants routinely report to LSNC the improper landlord behavior that is the focus of the Ordinance including, but not limited to:
Refusal to make necessary repairs and/or undertaking repairs very poorly and allowing rental homes to fall into disrepair;
Abusing rights of entry to rental homes;
Refusing to accept rent when required to do so and/or improperly holding onto uncashed money orders/checks;
Influencing/intimidating tenants to vacate by fraud and/or misrepresenting that a tenant must vacate due to an alleged substantial remodel, an alleged family member moving in, or an alleged removal from the rental market; Unlawful discrimination based on tenant’s membership in a protected class and refusal to provide reasonable accommodations to tenants with disabilities; and Unilaterally imposing harmful new lease terms that increase the cost of housing such as questionable fees.
These actions are harmful and in some cases illegal under state law already, but there are rarely clear consequences for such illegal activity. For example, although entering a tenant’s home is restricted by Civil Code section 1954, it does not include a provision for statutory damages when a landlord abuses such entries. Likewise, when a landlord terminates a tenant’s tenancy by misrepresenting that a tenant has to move out of the rental home due to a no fault reason under Civil Code section 1946.2 (e.g. owner move- in or withdrawal from the rental market), the law lacks a specific recourse or remedy.
In contrast, the Ordinance provides a clear penalty that tenants, especially unrepresented tenants, may use in small claims court to assert the protections and obtain relief. It also includes attorneys’ fees for prevailing tenants, which may provide tenants a way to obtain representation from private attorneys who would not otherwise be able to accept the case. There is a reasonable likelihood that the existence of such clear penalties and the risk of incurring attorneys’ fees, will de-incentivize landlords from abusing tenants in the first place.
Further, many of these types of landlord actions lead to evictions, and the present eviction numbers are startling.
In Sacramento County, over 5,270 eviction lawsuits have been filed so far this year in the Sacramento Superior Court.
In the last three months alone, 2,485 eviction lawsuits have been filed. As a result, in any given month in Sacramento, between roughly 700 and 1000 tenant households are going through an eviction lawsuit. For reference, there were 7,035 eviction filings for the whole year of 2022, nearly 5,000 of which were filed in the last half of the year after the statewide COVID- 19 protections largely ended in July 2022.
In 2021, when the statewide COVID-19 rental protections were in place the entire year, less than 3000 evictions were filed.
At the current rate, Sacramento County is on track to exceed 9,000 eviction lawsuits this year.
These numbers only include those tenants who did not leave before an eviction lawsuit was filed. There is no data on the number of tenants who move out after a landlord issues a notice terminating their tenancy, so the number of displaced tenants is even higher than these, already substantial, eviction numbers.
Once evicted, there is often nowhere for those individuals to go. Evictions and a lack of safe and affordable housing drives Sacramento residents into homelessness destabilizing both individual lives and families.
Thank you for your work on this matter. If you have any questions about the above or would like to request further information, please let us know.
Sincerely,
Sarah R. Ropelato
Managing Attorney
Sarah R. Ropelato
2617 K St, Suite 175 • Sacramento, California 95816 Telephone: (916) 927-9772 • Fax: (916) 927-1643 FGS:CFT8004/AFL-CIO
SACRAMENTO CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL AFL - CIO Embracing Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Yolo and Sacramento Counties August 9, 2023 Councilmember Katie Valenzuela, Chair Councilmember Rick Jennings II, Vice Chair Councilmember Lisa Kaplan Vice Mayor Eric Guerra Sacramento City Hall 915 I Street, Fifth Floor Sacramento, Calif., 95814 RE: Support for the Proposed Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance Members of the Sacramento City Council Law & Legislation Committee: On Tuesday, April 4, the Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance (TAHO), proposed by Councilmember Caity Maple, will be on your agenda for consideration. On behalf of the Sacramento Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, I strongly urge you to pass a motion directing staff to work on the proposal and to work with your committee in order to bring it forward for consideration by the full City Council. The Sacramento Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO consists of over 100 union affiliates representing over 180,000 union members. We advocate to improve the lives of working people who want to join together in unions and we are committed to struggle of workers and their right to have a voice in the workplace. As an organization with deep-rooted partnerships with worker organizations, the Sacramento Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO is committed to ensuring that working people in Sacramento are able to maintain suitable living conditions without the added stress and anxiety a bad landlord may place on them. Tenants in Sacramento are experiencing extraordinary levels of harassment, including intimidation and coercion, abusing right to access rental units, removing possessions without authority, threatening violence, refusing to acknowledge receipt of rent payment, interfering with right to quiet use, interrupting or terminating utility service, and refusing to do repairs, among others. While many federal and state laws exist making landlord harassment, intimidation, and coercion illegal, tenants experience significant barriers in asserting their rights in Sacramento. Community legal services are overwhelmed, there are very few local private attorneys specializing in these areas, and more often than not, our lowest-income residents are most impacted and unable to fight for their rights. The reality on the ground is our under-resourced communities are experiencing harassment with little recourse, and a strong Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance crate a framework to protect them. We are encouraging the City of Sacramento to adopt a “Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance”, similar to the cities
2617 K St, Suite 175 • Sacramento, California 95816 Telephone: (916) 927-9772 • Fax: (916) 927-1643 FGS:CFT8004/AFL-CIO
of Oakland and Richmond, that will protect tenants from threats, intimidation, and other unlawful activities through civil remedies. This ordinance would set forth that if a landlord, in bad faith, engages in one of the prohibited activities, the tenant can take legal action. This ordinance would include penalties and recovery of attorney’s fees. Many of our members have experienced abuse and harassment at the hands of landlords, forcing them out onto the streets or leading them to untenable living conditions. Thank you for your consideration, and again, I urge you to pass a motion allowing staff to begin work on this ordinance and send it to the full City Council for consideration. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me at (916) 927-9772 if you have any questions about our organization or our support of this ordinance. Sincerely, Sincerely, Fabrizio Sasso Executive Director CC: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
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SacramentoLeaders;
I amsendingthisemailtoencourageyouandotherSacramentoLeaderstostandwithtenantsbypassingastrongAnti-Harassmentordinance!SacramentoLandlordsoftenharasstenantswhichcansometimeslooklikethreats,violence,utilityshutoffs,orlockeddoors.Othertimes,tenantsface“hostilelivingenvironment”harassmentwhichcanberefusingtoacceptrent,refusingtodorepairs,addingunlawfulfees,orintimidatingtenantsinhopesofself-eviction.
Mostoftheseactsarealreadyillegal.However, tenantsoftenfacesignificantbarrierstoassertingtheirrights.Thisunevenplayingfieldallowslandlordstoharasstenantsasabusinesspractice,knowingthatevenwhenafewtenantsasserttheirrights,itwillnotsignificantlyimpactthelandlord.ThatiswhyweareaskingyoutopassanAnti-HarassmentOrdinancethatholdsLandlordsaccountableforactssuchas:
1. Influencingatenanttovacatearentalunitthroughfraud,intimidation,orcoercion;2. Abusingtheowner’srighttoaccessthetenant’srentalunit;3. Removingatenant’spossessionswithoutlegalauthority;4. Threateningviolenceagainstatenant;5. Refusingtoacknowledgereceiptofatenant’slawfulrentpayment;6. Substantiallyinterferingwithatenant’srighttoquietuse;7. Interrupting,terminating,orfailingtoprovidebasicservicespaidfor,includingwaterandelectricity8. Attemptingtocoercetenantstovacatewithoffersofpaymentscoupledwiththreats;9. Invadingatenant’srighttoprivacy;and10.Refusingtodorepairsforpurposesofharassment.
Tenantanti-harassmentordinancessetclearrulesfortenantsandlandlordsaboutwhatbehavioristenantharassment.Byclearlyspecifyingwhichactsareprohibited,landlordsareputonnoticeofwhatbehaviorisunacceptable.Ifalandlord,inbadfaith,choosestoengageinoneoftheprohibitedactivities,thetenantcantakelegalactionagainstthelandlord.Oncetheselawsareonthebooks,manylandlordschangetheirbehaviorasabusinessdecisionandHarassmentquicklybecomeslessprofitable.
1. JovanaFajardo,DirectorACCE-AllianceofCaliforniansforCommunityEmpowerment2. TamieDramer, ExecutiveDirector, OrganizeSacramento3. VyTran,CaliforniaOrganizer, ManufacturedHousing(MH)Action
4. Dr. FlojauneCofer, SeniorDirectorofPolicy, PublicHealthAdvocates CouncilmemberKatieValenzuela,ChairCouncilmemberRickJenningsII,ViceChairCouncilmemberLisaKaplanViceMayorEricGuerra SacramentoCityHall915IStreet,FifthFloorSacramento,CA,95814 RE: SupportforaProposedTenantAnti-HarassmentOrdinance
MembersoftheSacramentoCityCouncilLaw&LegislationCommittee:
OnTuesday,April4,aTenantAnti-HarassmentOrdinance(TAHO),proposedbyCouncilmemberCaityMaple,willbeonyouragendaforconsideration.OnbehalfofSunriseMovementSacramento,Istronglyurgeyoutopassamotiondirectingstafftoworkontheproposal,andtoworkwithyourcommitteeinordertobringitforwardforconsiderationbythefullCityCouncil.
Asamovementofyoungpeopleorganizingourcommunitiestomeettheclimatecrisis,werecognizethefighttoaccessstablehousingaskeytoourmission.Sacramentocannotachieveenvironmentalandclimatejusticewhileourcommunitiesarelefthavingtoworryaboutwhetherornottheywillhaveshelter. Withoutviabletenantprotectionsinplaceandasystemthatcanbetrustedtowork,peopleinourcommunityarelefttostrugglealoneagainstharassmentandsubstandardconditions.Tenantsshouldnothavetoweightheunlikelyoddsthatattemptstoensuretheirrightsareupheldmightbeworththeconsequencesofpotentiallyfacingeviction.
OrganizationsandtenantsacrossSacramentohavesharedmanyexperiencesofharassment,including:intimidationandcoercion,abusingrighttoaccessrentalunits,removingpossessionswithoutauthority,threateningviolence,refusingtoacknowledgereceiptofrentpayment,interferingwithrighttoquietuse,interruptingorterminatingutilityservice,andrefusingtodorepairs,amongothers.Thesealarmingpatternsofdisregard,andinsomecasestacticsofmaliciouscompliance,underminetherightsoftenantsacrossourcommunity-andcouldbepreventedbyaTenantAnti-HarassmentOrdinance.
Whilefederalandstatelawsexistmakinglandlordharassment,intimidation,andcoercionillegal,tenantsexperiencesignificantbarriersinassertingtheirrightsinSacramento.Communitylegalservicesareoverwhelmed,thereareveryfewlocalprivateattorneysspecializingintheseareas,andmoreoftenthannot,ourlowest-incomeresidentsaremostimpactedandunabletofightfortheirrights. Therealityonthegroundisthatourunder-resourcedcommunitiesareexperiencingharassmentwithlittlerecourse,andastrongTenantAnti-HarassmentOrdinancecancreateaframeworktoprotectthem.
WeencouragetheCityofSacramentotoadoptaTAHOthatwillprotecttenantsfromthreatsandintimidation,preventharassment,andensuretheircivilliberties.CitiesacrossCaliforniasuchasOalkandandRichmondhavealreadytakenthisimportantstep,andstaffcanlooktotheirmodelsindevelopingasolutionthatworksforSacramentans.
Pleasetakethisopportunitytostandagainstharassmentandforrenters,weurgeyoutopassamotiondirectingstafftobeginworkonaTAHOandsendittothefullCityCouncilforconsideration.
Sincerely,
MoizMirCoordinator,SunriseMovementSacramento
CC:[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]