Concord City Council to vote on rent control ordinance

The city of Concord is once again debating a vote on an ordinance that could impact tens of thousands of renters in the city.

It would put a cap on annual rent increases, which isn’t sitting well with property owners.

Both tenants and property owners rallied in front of city hall Tuesday before the city council made a decision that could reshape the city.

“If this ordinance were to pass tonight, it would mean housing stability for tens of thousands of renters across the city,” said Rheaelina Laughlin, executive director of Rising Juntos.

The ordinance that’s up for a vote will cap annual rent increases at 3%, or 60% of the consumer price index, and the changes will only apply to multi-family complexes built before Feb. 1 of 1995.

The council is also voting on a “just cause” eviction ordinance which in some cases would require landlords to cover some moving expenses for “no fault” evictions.

“People who are involved who are renting out single-families homes or who are renters in single-family homes are just learning about this,” said Vice Mayor Carolyn Obringer. 

During Tuesday’s meeting, council members debated the merits of the ordinance with the vice mayor even proposing putting it on the ballot in November, but didn’t garner any support.

Derek Barnes with the East Bay Rental Housing Association says the proposed cap on rental increases will have a negative impact on property owners still recovering costs from the pandemic.

“For most of our housing providers who have been in an eviction moratorium with a lot of restrictions over the last three plus years, they've been faced with trying to recover from that period so a lot of restrictions, a lot of caps to how much they could rent for during that period are pretty significant,” said Barnes. 

If the ordinance passes, it still needs to go to a second reading by the council which will determine when the changes go into effect.