A San Jose councilman is getting a close-up look at how rough the Bay Area rental market is.
Councilman Raul Peralez's landlord terminated his lease with the intention of selling the home and moving out of the area.
Peralez had to scramble to find a new place for his young family and dogs, and it wasn't easy. It's a familar plight for a lot of people.
Peralez spent the last nine years in a quaint home in the Rosemary Gardens community.
"The rent went up three times in those nine years," he said. "Couldn’t ask for better landlords."
But the landlords have decided to sell, and that means Peralez, his wife and their child were suddenly thrust into San Jose’s expensive renters' market.
"It was a surprise that we’re going to be forced into the rental market that i have been fighting, knowing we’re in a housing crisis," Peralez said.
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Peralez has advocated for more affordable housing and stronger rent control in the city. The online service, RentJungle.com, reports that a two-bedroom apartment in San Jose will cost an average of nearly $3,300 a month.
And monthly rents have increased by more than 100 dollars in the past six months.
The group Silicon Valley Debug says it hears from desperate renters all the time. Debug warns the arrival of the large Google campus near downtown San Jose will only make things worse.
Peralez agrees.
"Google coming will have a negative effect on the city if we don’t do our part and we don’t require Google to do its part" with ensuring affordable housing, he said.
Peralez must live in the downtown area to keep his seat on the council, and the family indeed found another smaller home, with no yard. But it's costing them $600 more a month.
