Rent Relief & Homeowners Protection Act

Rent Relief & Homeowners Protection Act Qualifies for November Ballot

City Clerk Confirms Signature Validation by County of Alameda

BERKELEY, Calif., May 30, 2024—The Berkeley Rental Housing Coalition, an association of rental housing providers, announced today that the Berkeley City Clerk has confirmed the Rent Relief & Homeowners Protection Act garnered enough valid signatures to appear on the November 2024 ballot.

The pro-housing measure will provide funding for a permanent rent relief program in the city to assist tenants struggling to pay their rent. The campaign submitted 4,359 signatures in total – well over the required number of 2,895 to qualify.

“We are one step closer to providing renters and rental housing providers with a permanent rent relief fund that will help serve those in need” said Krista Gulbransen, executive director of the Berkeley Rental Housing Coalition. “Voters who signed the petition also recognized the importance of lessening the impact of government regulation on small rental housing providers who live on site with their tenant.”

The Rent Relief & Homeowners Protection Act seeks to update the city’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, first adopted by voters in 1980. Under the proposal, a portion of the city’s existing annual business license tax on big landlords would create a permanent fund for renter’s relief. Estimated to provide almost $1.2m1 annually, the fund will assist tenants in need of temporary rental assistance. It’s estimated a now-expired, COVID 19-era rent relief fund helped almost 1,000 people stay in their homes.

Additional reforms include protections for single-family homeowners and for duplexes where at least one owner resides on the property with their tenant. A Tenants Right to Organize provision would allow tenants of a building to organize and request to confer in good faith with the property owner for purposes of housing services and accommodations. Owners will also be required to give at least a 60-day notice for the end of a lease term in order to give a tenant time to convey their intention to renew.

The Berkeley Rental Housing Coalition (BRHC) is the political and legal arm of the long-standing Berkeley Property Owners Association. It is dedicated to promoting safe, affordable, and well-maintained residential rental housing in the city of Berkeley and works to restore fairness, efficiency, and objectivity to Berkeley’s rental housing policies. Learn more at www.bpoa.org/brhc-about

Click here for Title & Summary

Click here for Ballot Measure Text

"Berkeley Voters Could Face Competing Tenant Protection Measures in November", Vanessa Rancano, March 22, 2024, KQED