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File Number: 15-203 <br />In 2001, the City Council established a Rent Review Program 1) to respond to increasing <br />residential rents in the City and throughout the Bay Area, and 2) to create a public forum for <br />rent disputes between tenants and landlords presided over by a balanced Rent Review Board <br />to achieve mutually agreeable rent resolutions. The Rent Review Board consists of five <br />members: 2 tenant, 2 landlord and 1 non-landlord/non-tenant representatives (e.g., <br />homeowner). Originally, one of the landlord representatives could be a non -City resident who <br />owned rental property in San Leandro, while the other landlord representative had to be a City <br />resident who owned rental property in the City. Due to difficulty filling the resident landlord <br />position over the past two years, the City Council recently approved an amendment to the <br />Ordinance to enable both landlord representatives to live outside the City. <br />The Ordinance was originally created through input from a variety of local rental housing <br />stakeholders such as the Rental Housing Owners Association of Southern Alameda County <br />(RHO), ECHO Housing (an experienced nonprofit housing agency with expertise in housing <br />law), Davis Street Family Resource Center, and tenants. From its onset, the Ordinance sought <br />to balance the needs of both renters and landlords with an emphasis on a mutually <br />satisfactory outcome. The Ordinance applies primarily to any housing unit for rent in a <br />building with three or more units. The Ordinance provides that: <br />All landlords must provide a notice informing each tenant of the City's Rent Review <br />Program with any rent increase notification. If a tenant does not receive the program <br />notice, then the rent increase is nullified until the landlord properly re -notices. The Rent <br />Review Board notice along with the Ordinance and frequently asked questions (FAQ) <br />are available on the City website in English, Spanish and Chinese. <br />• To be eligible for a Rent Review Board hearing, a rent increase must meet one of the <br />following thresholds: 1) over $75, 2) over 10% of the existing rent, or 3) two rent <br />increases within a 12 month period. These three criteria are only eligibility criteria to <br />qualify for a Board hearing and the Board may recommend upholding the proposed <br />rent increase regardless of the amount. <br />If an applicant is eligible for a Board hearing, staff sends a letter to the tenant and <br />landlord with the hearing date and location. In addition, the letter encourages both <br />parties to continue working together towards a mutually acceptable solution prior to the <br />hearing. Historically, most cases have been mutually resolved just prior to the start of <br />the hearing and often through the encouragement of RHO, ECHO and City staff. Staff <br />also prepares an agenda packet, including staff report, for distribution to the Board, <br />and publicly notices the hearing as required under the Ordinance. The Brown Act <br />applies to Rent Review Board hearings. <br />During the hearing, the Board reviews presentations from the landlord and tenant and <br />then makes a recommendation to the parties for the resolution of their dispute. The <br />Board, as stated in the Ordinance, uses a wide range of criteria in its review such as <br />economic hardship, frequency and amount of prior rent increases, landlord's mortgage <br />payments and ownership/maintenance costs, and the landlord's reasonable rate of <br />return. <br />City of San Leandro Page 3 Printed on 4114/2015 <br />