Registration Opens For Landlord Registry In Marin County

MARIN COUNTY, CA – The County of Marin has created an online registry for landlords to share rental data, and affected landlords are required to register their units by June 1. Three upcoming May workshops, in Novato, Fairfax and Corte Madera, will aid with process.

The Marin County Board of Supervisors in December 2018 approved a pilot ordinance requiring landlords to provide legal reason – a just cause – before evicting a renter within the unincorporated areas of Marin, officials said. The ordinance, which went into effect January 2019, applies to properties with three or more rental units and does not limit allowable rent increases.

“In response to calls from the public and the Board for more accurate and timelier data on the local housing market, a data collection provision was part of the ordinance,” said Leelee Thomas, Planning Manager for the Marin County Community Development Agency. “We rely on private property owners for rental housing stock, but there’s been no mechanism for them to share rental data with us. We have a strong need for more trusted statistics in order to recognize trends.”

When a landlord registers, county staff will be able to track such categories as rental costs, changes in occupancy and evictions. Data previously available to the county was year-old statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau or numbers from for-profit, real estate data-analytics companies -- firms that typically survey properties with more than 50 units.

"Those properties account for less than seven percent of housing units in the unincorporated county," officials said, adding "and landlord representatives regularly assert that larger 'corporate' landlords behave differently than housing providers with fewer units."

Supervisors in recent years have worked to alleviate pressure in the county’s housing market, beset by high rents and marked by displacement and low vacancy rates.

“All of us agree we need a lot more housing in this county, but we are taking small steps forward,” said Board President Kate Sears during the December 2018 session in which the just cause ordinance was unanimously approved. “Everything matters. I think this is a good step, and hopefully it will make a difference and we will get good data, and there will be a greater feeling of dignity for our renters.”

The "just cause" ordinance was recommended by two independent groups that studied the local market's fair-housing practices and existing barriers to fair-housing choice, the county said.

"Just cause" is among a series of affordable-housing and tenant-protection measures the board has supported since 2015, having made equity one of its top priorities.

County housing measures already approved and in place include source of income protection for tenants with housing vouchers, mandatory mediation for rent increases above 5 percent, financial incentives to encourage landlords to rent to those who need shelter the most, and expanded a fee waiver program to encourage the creation of both accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and junior accessory dwelling units (JADUs), staff said.

Thomas said the intent of the "just cause" ordinance is to relieve displacement pressures and support stability for renter households while retaining the rights of landlords to terminate rental agreements for legitimate reasons.

Justifiable causes for eviction described in the ordinance include:

• failure to pay rent;
• a breach of the rental contract;
• the tenant using the unit for illegal activities;
• the landlord permanently removing the unit from the rental market; and
• the landlord moving into the unit.

Later in May, CDA is teaming with the Marin County Free Library to host a registration drive for landlords. Staff from the CDA Housing and Federal Grants Division, CDA Environmental Health Division, and the Department of Finance will be on hand to assist landlords with the registration process. Landlords must have a business license and be registered for environmental health checks, according to authorities.

The registration events are:

Tuesday, May 21: Fairfax Library, 2097 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. 5-8 p.m.

Wednesday, May 29: Novato Library, 1720 Novato Blvd. 5-8 p.m.

Thursday, May 30: Corte Madera Library, 707 Meadowsweet Dr. 5-8 p.m.

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