2023-2031 Housing Element
Implementation:
Anti-Displacement & Tenant
Protection Policies
Housing & Neighborhood Services Division
Code Enforcement Division
Community Development Department
November 17, 2025
City Council Public Hearing
Agenda
• Background
• Updates on City Council Direction from April 21 Study Session • Overview of Ordinances
• Recommendations
Housing Element Policy H3.4 (H5.4.1)
Expand tenant protections in local ordinance to extend measures of AB1482 related to relocation, documentation, and right to return policy in eviction cases. • Extend provisions to require tenant relocation payments for No Fault evictions for those with tenure less than one year.
• Make recommendations to the City Council for establishing tenant protection policies that include the requirement of documentation from landlords who use the substantial remodel exception to evict tenants and a Right to Return Policy for tenants displaced from homes due to demolition or substantial remodels. • Amend the Code to strengthen enforcement penalty structure to aid in protecting tenants from unsafe or substandard units.
• Conduct outreach to the community on a biannual basis.
Timeframe for implementation: 2024-2026*
Housing Element Policy H3.6
Monitor rental rates, evictions, and tenant displacement citywide. • Research options and best practices for a rental registry list, including determining necessary financial and human resources needed to establish such a program. Make recommendations to City Council.
• Collaborate with regional partners, such as 21 Elements or ABAG, to develop ways to monitor rental rates, evictions and displacement citywide and countywide to track trends and use the information to guide policy priorities.
Timeframe for implementation: 2024-2026*
Follow-Up to April 21 City Council Study Session
City Council Direction Actions
Develop an emergency rental assistance program. Program launched August 1; administered by Samaritan House ($168k)
Develop a policy extending AB 1482 relocation assistance for no- fault evictions for tenants with tenure of 11 months or more; require tenant notification when substantially remodeled unit is available.
Ordinance adding Chapter 10.100 to San Mateo Municipal Code Amend Tenant Relocation Ordinance (San Mateo Municipal Code
7.50) to strengthen the City’s ability to aid and support tenants displaced from unsafe or substandard units.
Ordinance amending SMMC Chapter 7.50
Obtain more data on rental rates and evictions where possible; develop a proposal to leverage City data collection (through Business License Tax).
Additional data from Stanford Law School and update on use of HdL for data collection
Improve outreach on current tenant protection policies such as AB 1482 for both tenants and landlords. Update on outreach since April 21 provided at this meeting Additional Data – San Mateo Eviction Cases
Staff obtained supplemental data on San Mateo eviction cases from authors of Evictions in San Mateo County: 2019 and 2023
• 161 unlawful detainers (UDs) filed in 2019 and 253 filed in 2023; increase driven by nonpayment of rent (NPR) cases.
• San Mateo UDs represented 14.4% of UDs filed countywide in 2019, compared to 16.75% of UDs filed countywide in 2023.
• In 2019, 128 of 161 (79.5%) total UDs filed were NPR cases, whereas in 2023, 234 of 253 (92.5%) total UDs filed were NPR cases.
• Of the 161 UDs filed in 2019, 18 were filed for a reason other than nonpayment of rent or tenant fault, compared to 13 in 2023.
These data support prior reported findings:
• There is a countywide trend of increases in evictions since 2019. • San Mateo is slightly overrepresented based on its share of county population. • The dominant cause of eviction cases is nonpayment of rent. • AB 1482 has played a significant role in no-fault evictions.
Outreach Efforts
• Workshops with Project Sentinel
• Emergency Rental Assistance Program media outreach/flyers • 21 Elements Displacement Survey (through Anti-Displacement Advisory Committee)
Business License Tax Application – City Data
City Council requested staff investigate business license tax application as means of collecting basic information from rental property owners • City authority to set requirements related to business tax is limited to enforcement of the tax, and cannot be used to collect rental housing information • Would likely require a new ordinance
• City could request information on voluntary basis (building type, number of units, rents, and vacancies)
• Staff would require 4-6 months to integrate into annual tax filing Does the City Council support collecting rental data on a voluntary basis via the business license platform?
Ordinance Adding Chapter 10.100 - Tenant
Protection Ordinance
• Incorporates Civil Code Section 1946.2 by reference, with threshold of 11 months of tenure
• Includes just cause provisions, noticing, and relocation requirements of AB 1482
• Applicability identical to AB 1482 (housing 15 years or older, on a rolling basis, with same exemptions)
• Correction to Section 10.100.020: should be 1946.2(b)(2) • Requirement to notify tenant when substantial remodel completed • Per City Council direction, this is not a right to return to unit (at prior rent or otherwise)
Ordinance Amending Chapter 7.50
Tenant Displacement Ordinance
• Property Owner Obligations to Displaced Tenants
• 2019-2025 Code Enforcement Cases Total: 3205
• 2019-2025 Tenant Displacement Cases: 36 (1.1%)
• 11 Permanent Relocations, 25 Temporary Relocations
Ordinance Amending Chapter 7.50
Tenant Displacement Ordinance
• Amends appeals process – an appeal pursuant to this section of SMMC would be heard by a hearing officer, not City Council • Changes temporary relocation assistance to U.S. General Services Administration per diem rate, rather than HUD Fair Market Rent (to reflect real costs of temporary accommodations like hotel stay) • Gives City the ability to change a relocation designation from “temporary” to “permanent” based on case-by case circumstances Next Steps
• Based on City Council’s direction:
• Ordinances will return for second reading (December 1) • Effective 30 days after second reading
• Requirement to notify tenants pursuant to Section 10.100.030(a)(2) by February 1, 2026
• Staff will continue to provide City Council with updates on implementation of these items as part of the Housing Element Annual Progress Report (APR) in March of each year
Recommendations
1. Introduce an ordinance adding Chapter 10.100 to Title 10 of the San Mateo Municipal Code with citation correction;
2. Introduce an ordinance amending Chapter 7.50 of the San Mateo Municipal Code;
3. Find the ordinances exempt from further environmental review pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Section 15061(b)(3); and
4. Provide direction to staff if City Council wishes to pursue collection of rental property data on voluntary basis via business tax certificate filing (HdL).
Thank You
Rachel Horst
Housing & Neighborhood Services Manager
[email protected]
Eugene Alper
Code Enforcement Manager
[email protected]