The California Apartment Association is urging the Redwood City clerk to reject petitions submitted this week aiming to place a rent control measure on the November ballot.

CAA argues that the petition fails to comply with the California Elections Code’s “full text” requirement.

Proponents of the “Redwood City Fair and Affordable Housing Ordinance” submitted over 6,000 signatures Tuesday in hopes of qualifying the measure for the ballot. The petition requires 4,389 valid signatures to qualify. The measure seeks to limit annual rent increases for eligible properties to 60% of the consumer price index and introduce additional tenant protections, including “just cause” eviction requirements.

Joshua Howard, CAA’s executive vice president of local public affairs, emphasized the association’s opposition to the measure.

“The California Apartment Association opposes efforts to bring stricter rent control to California communities, including Redwood City,” Howard said. “Rent control is a proven failed policy that discourages the creation of new rental units, reduces housing availability, and drives up rents on unregulated housing. Redwood City already offers robust renter protections, ensuring that most renters have the right to a fixed-term lease and receive relocation assistance if asked to move through no fault of their own,” he added.

In a letter to city officials, attorney Ashlee Titus from Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, LLP, representing CAA, outlines the legal deficiencies of the petition. Titus argues that the petition does not include the full text of the existing chapters of the Redwood City Municipal Code that would be repealed, thereby violating the full text requirement of the Elections Code. The letter cites precedents from past court rulings that invalidated similar petitions lacking full details.

“California law is clear. The proposed measure fails to comply with the Election Code as it does not properly inform voters that these existing protections would be repealed should the measure pass. CAA, through its legal counsel, requests the city clerk use her authority to reject the petitions recognizing this significant legal flaw in the submitted measure,” Howard added.

The measure, if passed, would apply rent control to multi-unit housing built before 1995, capping rent increases at 60% of the CPI increase for a given year and no more than 5% of a tenant’s current rent. It also proposes stronger limits on landlord evictions and requires landlords to pay relocation fees for certain types of evictions. Additionally, landlords would need to cover the cost of implementing these protections through a rental housing fee.

CAA also highlighted the existing protections under the 2019 Tenant Protection Act (AB 1482), which already provides significant safeguards against excessive rent increases and unjust evictions. “It’s time to focus on policies that increase housing choices for Redwood City’s working families, not on counterproductive initiatives,” Howard said.

Call to action

The California Apartment Association is calling on Redwood City landlords to support efforts to defeat this measure. Contributions to the CAA Issues PAC will help us oppose this and other ballot measures that adversely affect California’s rental housing industry. The CAA Issues Committee supports local and state ballot measures that enhance housing providers’ ability to offer fair housing opportunities to those who rent and opposes all measures that harm our industry. Donations to the CAA Issues PAC are not tax deductible.

Additionally, we urge you to contribute to the CAA Legal Fund, which finances legal challenges that support the rental housing industry on issues such as opposition to rent control, local fees, and other actions potentially harmful to the rental housing industry. Legal Fund contributions are voluntary and are deductible as a general expense.

How to contribute

For more information or to get involved, contact CAA at NorCalPA@caanet.org.