Less rhetoric needed on California renter challenges. Let’s find common ground.
I am responding to guest commentary by Rio Molina in the Oct. 12 issue of the North Bay Business Journal titled “Measures Needed to Protect Renters”
Mr. Molina moves around quite a bit, but seems to be relating the theme of the article around a family that is in danger of displacement. The Camacho-Barbosa family.
Since we have no point of reference for the story, and I can’t seem to find it as referenced in the Sept. 1 edition of the Press Democrat, we have no back story or legitimate point of reference.
As you may know, property owners chasing good tenants out is not an image that benefits anyone. It is as old as time, but in reality is a rare occurrence.
Business owners just don’t chase away paying customers. To quote Joe Biden, “C’mon!”
Molina cites a large number of residents as being in danger of eviction or displacement at the hand of 15,000 homeowners with the privilege to own multiple properties.
Does Mr. Molina think the world consists of people that magically have (rental) properties and can’t wait to kick out their paying customers?
Rents have been going down for 12-plus months, and vacancy is up. See Gary Quackenbush’s article in the Business Journal’s Oct. 12 edition.
And most owners, both those born in the USA and those that have immigrated here, have worked hard and sacrificed a more comfortable life in the short run in order to invest in something that might provide a source of income in their older years.
Why would they want to chase away their good customers? Most owners were renters at one time. Like anyone, they just want a clear set of rules to operate by, and then follow them.
With laws now requiring more notice of time than 15 years ago — Just Cause for Eviction under AB 1482 (Tenant Protection Act of 2019) and now protections under AB 3088 (Tenant Relief Act of 2020) — it is hard to imagine that Mr. Molina and his constituents don’t feel more protection for renters than ever before.
At a time when it is more important than ever to bring people together and work on common issues and find complimentary solutions that benefit not just one side, but two, this kind of commentary and dialogue is both tired and dangerous.
What’s more, it doesn’t lead to change. What would be refreshing would be for Mr. Molina to say something like, “We are in this together. We know that owners have expense and mortgage obligations to meet, and that is why it is important to implore our leaders to find resources and funding for missed/back rent payments, and for owners to work with tenants on payment plans and by letting them out of leases that they can no longer afford.”
The writer goes on to support the preposterous COPA that requires that all properties be offered first to a list of nonprofits who have a right of first refusal to purchase the properties.
He’s not thinking it through. First of all, there IS little funding for these properties, but as with the city of Healdsburg last year, they were offered properties early on and they did buy them — 21 and then eight plus eight units, totaling 37 units just in 2019 — and kept them affordable.
How would further entangling property owners with more legal and operative challenges actually improve the housing shortage?
Short answer, it would make it worse. Like Prop 21. It would force owners out of the apartment business, creating industry consolidation which will then lead to fewer owners and almost no local ownership or ties to the local community and rents would be forced to go up. Market forces have worked for all of history and continue to work today.
Let’s stop taking aim and start working to bring both sides together.
