Thousands of leaders across California Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) organizations celebrate a new deal announced by the Governor and state legislators to extend the state’s eviction moratorium and rent relief program that was set to expire June 30, 2021.

The California IAF specifically applauds State leaders for:

• Extending the eviction ban to September 30, 2021
• Paying 100% of overdue rent and utilities paid for landlords and tenants
• Providing up to18 months of rental assistance for past and future rent
• Allowing either tenants or land lords to receive funds
• Forestalling evictions until rental assistance applications are attempted

On June 3rd, 2021, over 600 California IAF leaders convened on Zoom -- along with Catholic Bishop Oscar Cantú (whose op-ed can be read here), Episcopal Bishop Lucinda Ashby and two state legislators -- to call for an extension of the eviction moratorium and expansion of SB91 to allow more flexibility with rental assistance distribution to keep families housed.  California IAF organized hundreds of phone calls and emails to State Senators, Assembly members and the Governor asking for more time and flexibility to get funds to families who missed rent due to the pandemic.

“California IAF leaders are pleased our state legislators acted to protect our families from eviction and provide 100% of rent owed.  Our thanks go to Senators Caballero, Durazo, Laird and Weiner and Assemblymembers Chiu, Bloom, Reyes and Santiago for leading the charge on behalf of our families," said Rabbi Paula Marcus of Temple Beth El, Aptos.  "We would have preferred a 6 month extension, but we will turn our focus now to local organizing meetings so our families understand their rights and how to apply for rental assistance.”

“By sharing our stories with state agency staff and legislators, our recommendations were accepted to allow for easier income verification and tenants with informal leases to be included as eligible for assistance.  By making future months of rent available, this will allow tenants like me to be able to cover my rent while I pay off the debts to my family and credit card that I took on to keep my landlord paid,” said Lourdes Rios, COPA leader in Santa Cruz County.

• Central Coast Reacts to the Extension of the Eviction Moratorium, Noticias Ya [video in Spanish]
• Oped by Bishop Oscar Cantú: California Must Release Rent Funds and Stop Evictions, Mercury News 
• Santa Cruz County Housing Advocates Seek State Eviction Moratorium Extension, Santa Cruz Sentinel [pdf]
• Local Leaders Ask for Extension of Moratorium on Evictions in California, Telemundo [en español] [pdf]
• California IAF Action on Renter Protection, California IAF
• Hundreds of Advocates Urge Gov. Newsom to Expand SB91, Good Times [pdf]
• With Assistance Lagging, State Must Extend Rental Eviction Moratorium, Santa Cruz Sentinel [pdf]
• Hundreds of Advocates Urge Gov. Newsom to Expand SB91, The Pajaronian [pdf]

[In photo above, Maria Magarin of San Juan Diego Catholic holds her six-month old son and evaluates the water damage sustained to her apartment in far northeast Dallas.  Magarin lost hot water due to the Texas blackout and now, after her apartment sustained significant damage, fears that the mold growing on wet walls will make her young sons sick.]

[Excerpt]

Maria Magarin stomped on her gray carpet, to punctuate the fact that burst pipes have left her bedroom floor soggy, her apartment smelling of mold and a hallway wall so damp it bulges like a huge wet sponge. She said she feared her 6-month-old son would get sick.

“My apartment is a disaster,” the single mother of four said.

....

Josephine Lopez-Paul, the lead organizer for Dallas Area Interfaith, has tried to help those most in need, usually immigrant women who are single heads of households. Emergency assistance funds from the Oakland-based Family Independence Initiative obtained before the storm meant Dallas Area Interfaith was able to distribute $500 checks in the middle of the freeze. The flow of money was held up for a few days because renters couldn’t get on computers without electricity.

“This is a disaster,” Lopez-Paul said.

[Photo Credit: Lynda M Gonzalez, Dallas Morning News]

No Water: 15 Days After Losing Service Due to a Winter Storm, Some in Dallas Still Lack Working Plumbing, Dallas Morning News [pdf] 

Over the objections of commercial landlords, the Marin County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution on Tuesday granting renters additional time to repay back rent in response to a push by Marin Organizing Committee (MOC) and allies.   As a result, residential and commercial tenants in Marin will have 90 days after a countywide moratorium on evictions expires on May 31 to repay back rent, plus added protections.

Said Reverend Tom Gable of Marin Lutheran Church and MOC:  

“We are particularly supportive of the new language that prohibits harassment, allows tenants to self-certify their inability to pay, and requires tenants to be notified of their rights before a landlord can take action in court.”

However, leaders continue to push for more.  According to MOC leaders, "90 days is an impossible timeline for renters to repay rent they missed during the shelter-in-place order. We risk spawning a second public health crisis if we allow Marin families to be thrown out of their homes as a result.”

Marin Tenants Given Extra 90 Days to Repay Back Rent, Marin Independent Journal [pdf] 

Marin Renters Allotted $1M More In Pandemic Aid, Marin Independent Journal

[Excerpts]

In an attempt to bridge the gap between renters and landlords, as well as the banks that play a critical role in the housing market, Anderson has joined forces with Coloradans for the Common Good, which describes itself as "a broad-based, non-partisan network of organizations, affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation — the oldest and largest community organizing network, organized for ordinary people to have a powerful voice in the decisions that affect their lives and communities...

....

“Even during normal times, it’s not unusual for someone to spend 50% to 60% of their monthly income on housing. But now, that’s untenable,” said the Rev. John Anderson of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Arvada.

“In 2008, taxpayers bailed out financial institutions,” Anderson said. “So banks are in a strong enough position today to help take the lead on this solution. And if landlords were given help with their mortgages, then they also ought to — in return — help their tenants.” He added that he hoped landlords and banks would contact the coalition, Coloradans for the Common Good, but that there was no active effort to push for an executive order or legislation to mandate the group’s goals...

[Photo by twinsterphoto]

Faith-labor coalition calls for keeping people housed during pandemic, CP Colorado Politics [pdf]

Covid-19 Colorado rent crisis: Landlords says they're victims, too, Westword [pdf]

Responding to dual threats of deportation and homelessness faced by low-income immigrants, Marin Organizing Committee (MOC) launched a careful campaign to explore how to protect tenants.  The campaign culminated in a major victory this week, with leaders persuading the San Rafael City Council to not only mandate mediation between tenants and landlords when rent increases exceed 5% per year, but also to implement 'just cause' for eviction standards.  San Rafael is the county seat of Marin County, one of the most expensive places to live in California, and home to 70% of Marin County renters.        

Landlords and representatives from the California Apartment Association appeared in force to testify in opposition, but MOC leaders had been laying the groundwork for two years.  In response to pressure from MOC leaders in 2017, the Marin Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to support a mandatory mediation program for renters, which would apply only to unincorporated areas of the County (about 8,300 renters).  In 2018, the Marin Board of Supervisors passed a 'just cause' for eviction ordinance protecting tenants from sudden eviction -- again, only in unincorporated areas of Marin County.  Beyond negotiating for these protections, MOC shepherded a deal between Canal neighborhood tenants and a landlord who had initially imposed a 45% rent hike over 2 months, successfully increasing the time frame to 16 months. 

In response to passage of the ordinances, leader Meredith Parnell declared, "MOC is pleased that the San Rafael City Council is moving forward with these small steps to protect renters...we look forward to working with the city to ensure there is a well-resourced and multilingual community education and outreach campaign to explain these new ordinances to landlords and tenants alike.”

[Photo Credit: Adrian Rodriguez, Marin Independent Journal (top); Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative (bottom)]

San Rafael City Council Approves Renter Protections, Marin Independent Journal [pdf]

Marin Voice: Protecting San Rafael Tenants Helps Prevent Homelessness, Marin Independent Journal [pdf]

Marin Supervisors Improve Renter Protection With 'Just Cause' Ordinance, Marin Independent Journal [pdf] (2018)

San Rafael Canal Area Landlords, Tenants Strike Deal on Rent Hikes, Marin Independent Journal (2018) 

MOC Wins Significant Step on Renter Protection, West / Southwest IAF (2017)

After 500 tenants were forced out of their homes due to residential code violations by their landlords, Omaha Together One Community (OTOC) leaders launched a campaign to ensure decent living standards for renters.

OTOC research actions on housing code violations soon revealed that the vast majority of violations occurred in low-income, predominantly minority communities with disproportionate numbers of elderly and refugee residents -- many of whom are reluctant to complain.  OTOC leaders are now pushing for local changes including required registration of all residential rental property and proactive inspections by the City of Omaha.

At recent press conference, Dennis Walsh of OTOC argued, "Registration and inspection creates a healthier market not a more expensive market.” 

Having helped shape Legislative Bill 85, which would require cities like Omaha to implement these reforms, Walsh and other OTOC leaders are mobilizing at the state level to ensure dignified housing.

Midland Voices (Oped): Omaha Needs to Provide Effective, Affordable Reform of Rental Oversight, Omaha World-Herald  

Beckas Beat: Do We Live In a Perfect World?, FOX 42 News

Woman, Daughter Homeless After Rental House Inspection Notes Imminent Danger, KETV 7

#wedontslum Calls Attention to Omaha Slumlords, KMTV News

New Website 'We Don't Slum' Aims to Put Pressure on Problem Landlords, Omaha World-Herald

New Website Launches to Spread Awareness About Slumlords, KETV 7 News

Omaha City Council gives owner time to fix properties before voting on his TIF application, KETV 7 News

Landlords, renters clash over idea of rental inspections in Omaha and Lincoln, Omaha World-Herald

OTOC Fact Sheet on LB 85, OTOC

Novato City Council Ponders Just Cause Eviction Ordinance, Marin Independent Journal

After careful agitation by leaders of Marin Organizing Committee, the Marin County Board of Supervisors passed a 'Just Cause for Evictions' Ordinance with a unanimous vote.  Leaders [in photo above] filled the County chambers in support of the ordinance which is expected to protect approximately 3,400 renters currently without protection from arbitrary eviction in Marin. 

In its coverage of the meeting, and the multi-year fight, Marin Independent Journal called Marin Organizing Committee "the leading voice calling for action to address the housing crisis."  

The Just Cause Ordinance was carefully crafted to provide protection to tenants without restricting landlords from acting to remove problem occupants.  Evictions are permitted when tenants skip out on rent, breach rental contracts and or pose other problems. 

While the ordinance is limited to protecting only tenants in unincorporated Marin, leaders are hopeful that the data collection incorporated in the ordinance will establish important evidence about rental conditions across the County.  

Marin Supervisors Improve Renter Protection With 'Just Cause' Ordinance, Marin Independent Journal [pdf] 

Marin Supervisors Support 'Just Cause' Rule for Evictions, Marin Independent Journal [pdf]

For the second time in 2018, Marin Organizing Committee leaders stood on the front lines of the fight against astronomical rent increases that put in jeopardy the ability of Canal tenants to afford to stay in their homes.  In August, right before the start of the school year, tenants of a different apartment complex received notice of a  40% increase in rent.  MOC worked on a political strategy, including a press conference/rally with clergy and school district speakers and meetings with the tenants and public officials, that pressured the landlords into negotiating a better deal for the tenants. .  In addition, MOC led the effort to establish, in Marin County territory as a first step, a ‘Just Cause Ordinance' that requires landlords to have a just cause for eviction.  While this ordinance does not apply to rental housing in cities, the ordinance does include, for the first time, tracking of landlord activity across all Marin County.

In December, tenants at a second apartment complex in the Canal received notice of a 65% increase in rent to begin on February 1, 2019, as well as some eviction notices.  In response, Marin Organizing Committee leaders took matters to San Rafael City Council and asked the City to implement a ‘just cause’ ordinance which would require the landlord to have a justified cause for eviction similar to that approved by the Marin County Board of Supervisors earlier in the fall.  Furthermore, MOC leaders urged the City to provide county mediation between landlords and tenants when rent is increased more than 5% a year.  At the City Council meeting, Mayor Gary Phillips publicly stated that the city would consider implementing both practices in upcoming months, and directed the City Attorney to research whether the City Council could enact an emergency moratorium on rent increases and evictions in the meantime.

San Rafael Activists Rally Against Canal 65% Rent Hike, Marin Independent Journal