San Jose should lower rent control cap, offer eviction legal assistance, report says

The report was the result of a year long public-private partnership.

News Story (California)

Maggie Angst
Mercury News (San Jose, CA)
January 24, 2020
READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Tags: Housing: Eviction, Housing: Right to Counsel

DETAILS

More than 1.5 million Bay Area residents — nearly 1 in 5 — fled the region between 2010 and 2016. Nearly 71 percent of San Jose residents know someone who has been displaced, and 54 percent fear that they themselves also will be forced to leave in the future, according to a recent survey.

Hoping to curb that trend, a coalition of San Jose leaders and stakeholders have released a report with 13 recommended policy initiatives for the city to enact aimed at protecting residents and their ability to remain in their communities.

Some of the immediate recommendations include providing tenants facing eviction with legal assistance, creating a housing hotline for residents who need assistance while facing a housing emergency and lowering the city’s annual rent control increase cap from 5 percent to the consumer price index, which has hovered around 3.5 percent over the past decade.