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FY 2023-2024 Annual Review of the Rent Review Ordinance and Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance Programs
Rent Review Ordinance Overview
The City of San Leandro (City) adopted the Rent Review Ordinance (RRO) in May 2001 and subsequently established the Rent Review Program (Program). The Program offers mediation and non-binding arbitration of rent disputes between tenants and landlords.
Mediation/arbitration is provided by the Rent Review Board (RRB), a five-member volunteer community board appointed by the Mayor and comprised of two renters, two landlords, and one homeowner. The Program is based on the use of mediation/arbitration to work jointly with tenants and landlords to respond to complaints brought before the RRB and provides a neutral setting for discussing rent increase disputes.
Hearings are conducted by the RRB. Eligibility for a RRB hearing can be triggered when there is a rent increase of more than 7%, or there are two or more rent increases within a 12-month period (whose combined total exceeds 7%) for a rental unit on a parcel with at least two rental units. Exempted from this ordinance are single-family residences, duplexes where one of the units is owner occupied, and condominiums and townhomes where the landlord doesn’t own and rent 2+ units in the same complex. Mobile home rentals are eligible, but owner-occupied mobile homes that are leasing the space or pad below do not qualify.
FY 2023-2024 RRO
In FY 2023-2024 (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024), the City contracted with ECHO Housing to assist with tenant/landlord issues and inquiries, including those around the City’s RRO.
ECHO Housing received requests for RRB hearings from 24 households.
There was one RRB hearing during this period. RRB case number 2023-01 involved a rent increase of 9.2% noticed by Greystar Property Management to the tenant residing at 1055 Cecelia Court. The initial hearing took place on October 24, 2023, and was continued to November 28, 2023. While a rent increase reduction was not granted, the tenant and a Greystar representative subsequent to the November 28, 2023 hearing, agreed to sign a “Terms and Conditions of Rent Increase Settlement” that addressed unit repairs and safety improvements.
All other requests that qualified for a hearing were settled with a mutual agreement between the landlord and the tenant, where the landlord would not increase the rent above 7%. The City has experienced a decrease in rent review cases since AB 1482 was - 2 -
adopted in 2019. That law prohibits landlords from raising the rent for most rental units by more than 5%+CPI, up to a maximum of 10%.
Tenant Relocation Ordinance Overview
The City adopted the Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance (TRO) in September 2017.
Implementation began in October 2017. The TRO is triggered when a tenant's rental agreement is terminated due to landlord-caused terminations as identified in the TRO.
Eligible tenants may receive relocation assistance of up to $7,000 per unit from their landlord following a landlord-caused termination in order to assist with relocation to a new residence. A housing unit must be located in a parcel that contains 2+ tenant-occupied housing units to be eligible for the TRO. A single-family residence is exempt from the TRO.
Exceptions to landlord-caused terminations include the following:
Tenant failure to pay rent
Tenant breach of lease or rental contract
Tenant illegal activities
Failure to allow landlord access after legal notice
Residential property uninhabitable without landlord fault (e.g., tenant's negligence or willful misconduct, earthquake, fire, flood)
Lawful termination of employment where such employment (e.g., on-site property manager) by the landlord was a condition of the lease
Temporary repairs where the landlord provides the tenant with short-term alternative housing during the renovation period
Prior notice of renovations where the landlord notifies the tenant, before entering into a lease, of his/her intent to remodel the property. The landlord must submit plans with the City at the time he/she notifies the tenant of the termination of tenancy.
Landlord occupancy of the rental unit, limited to the landlord, his or her spouse, landlord's parent or parents or landlord's spouse's parent or parents, landlord's child or children or landlord's spouse's child or children, and landlord's or landlord's spouse's grandchildren
FY 2023-2024 TRO
In FY 2023-2024, the City contracted with ECHO Housing to assist with tenant/landlord issues and inquiries, including those involving tenant relocation assistance. ECHO received questions regarding the TRO from 13 households and the City received an additional 10 inquiries, for a total of 23 TRO inquiries.
FY 2023-2024 San Leandro Rental Data
According to RentCafe U.S. rental market data from July 2024, the average size for an apartment in San Leandro is 757 square feet, but this number varies greatly depending on unit type.
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Additional data provided by the site includes:
Renter-occupied Households: 42%
San Leandro, CA apartment rent ranges:
$1,001-$1,500: 0%
$1,501-$2,000: 20%
> $2,000: 80%
San Leandro, CA average rents:
Jul 2022: San Leandro, CA= $2198, National= $1696
Nov 2022: San Leandro, CA= $2303, National= $1713
Mar 2023: San Leandro, CA= $2292, National= $1701
Jul 2024: San Leandro, CA=$2276, National= $1739