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<br />Annual Rent Review Program Evaluation Report (July 2017 – June 2018) <br /> Rent Review Board Hearings From July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018, City staff addressed 175 tenant and 77 landlord inquiries for a total of 252 inquiries relating to the City's policies on rent increases, its Rent <br />Review Program and the newly adopted Tenant Relocation Ordinance (effective October 2017). <br />This is a 19% increase over FY 16-17 in the number of total inquiries to the City in this area of <br />service. Of all 252 inquiries (from either tenants or landlords), 26% were related to rent increases. Of those inquiries from tenants only, 35% (62 of 175 inquiries to the city) were requesting their rights with regard to a rent increase. <br /> During this reporting period there were 29 tenant households that requested a Rent Review <br />Board (RRB) hearing. Comparing this number to the 41 RRB requests in FY 16-17 it might seem <br />that there was a significant reduction of hearing applications. A closer look at the data reveals a <br />difference in the number of reported cases in certain categories from FY 16-17 to FY 17-18. In FY 17-18, City staff vetted those interested in applying for a RRB hearing so that only those who <br />were subject to the ordinance applied. Conversely, in FY 16-17 there were 11 RRB hearing <br />applicants that were not subject to the ordinance. In other words those 11 cases were screened- <br />out of applying for a RRB hearing. Those RRB hearing requests that weren’t accepted in FY 17- <br />18 included 1) the property being located outside of the jurisdiction, 2) the property being subject to a regulatory agreement, 3) the property being a Mobile Home Park where the unit was owner- <br />occupied. Adjusting for those cases, there was only one fewer case in FY 17-18 than in FY 16- <br />17. The monthly rent increases on all RRB hearing applications averaged 31%, the median was <br />17 %, and the highest rent increase was 88%. The following is the breakdown of the outcome of <br />those requests (see attached “Monthly Status Report of Rent Review Activities” for case details): <br />• 9 (or 31%) cases were ineligible for a RRB hearing; Of those cases, following is how they <br />were ineligible: o 7 (or 24% of total cases) cases were ineligible due to the landlord not following ordinance requirements; <br />o 2 (or 7% of total cases) cases were ineligible due to the tenant not following <br />ordinance requirements; <br />• 9 (or 31%) cases did not have a hearing scheduled; Of those cases, following is why they were <br />not heard: o 5 (or 17% of total cases) cases were resolved via mediation prior to the hearing being <br />scheduled; <br />o 4 (or 15% of total cases) the eligibility of the case was disputed and ultimately <br />decided that the housing units were not subject to the ordinance; <br />• 11 (or 38%) of FY 17-18 cases were scheduled for a hearing; <br />o 2 (or 7% of total cases) were resolved prior to the scheduled hearing; <br />o 6 (or 20% of total cases) were resolved at the hearing; <br />o 1 (or 3% of total cases) were resolved prior to the 2nd scheduled hearing; o 2 (or 7% of total cases) had a 2nd hearing scheduled and there was no resolution at the hearing.