San Diego Council Expected To Vote On Tenant Protection Ordinance

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego City Council will vote today on an
ordinance proposed by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and City Council President
Sean Elo-Rivera to provide protections to renters from eviction as long as they
continue to pay rent and comply with their lease.
Elo-Rivera and Gloria revealed the Residential Tenant Protections
Ordinance to Prevent Displacement and Homelessness last week, saying it is a
step toward addressing the twin housing and homelessness crises the city faces.
``San Diegans who are paying their rent and abiding by their lease
should not live in fear of eviction,'' Elo-Rivera said. ``Sadly, too often, San
Diego renters are being evicted despite following the rules. These evictions
cause massive financial and emotional distress to families and can lead to
displacement and put people at risk of homelessness. This ordinance provides
the protections that San Diego renters need and deserve.''
The ordinance took input from tenants rights advocates and the
Southern California Rental Housing Association and will bring the city's laws
up to those set by the rent-capping Assembly Bill 1482 -- in some cases
surpassing it, the mayor and council president said.
``This ordinance will help address the reality that we have people
becoming newly homeless faster than we can get people housed,'' Gloria said.
``I'm extremely grateful to have had the active participation and input in
crafting this framework by rental housing industry stakeholders to ensure it's
feasible and will meet the objective of making housing more secure for
thousands of San Diegans at risk of becoming homeless.''
The draft ordinance would apply protections from day one of a lease
with exemptions for short-term leases, offer financial assistance to tenants
from landlords when a tenant's lease is terminated through no fault of their
own and have accountability measures to punish those violating tenant
protections.
In March 2023, 832 people were housed while 1,260 people entered
homelessness for the first time, officials said. For more than a year in San
Diego, the number of people becoming homeless has outpaced those finding homes.
``This report shows our region has reached a sobering milestone: March
2023 marks one year since we've had a month where more people were housed
than experienced homelessness for the first time,'' Regional Task Force on
Homelessness CEO Tamera Kohler said when the task force's monthly report came
out Monday. ``Even as we continue to house people every day, with March seeing
our highest housing numbers in seven months, it's clear that we are not keeping
up with the influx of new people entering homelessness.
``We need to do much more to meet the need and fit the scope and scale
of our response to fight homelessness in our community,'' she added.
Copyright 2023, City News Service, Inc.