Measure CC

Berkeley Establish Direct Rental Payments and Amendments to the Rent Stabilization Ordinance

Click here to create an account and save your votes.

Would use existing revenue to create a fund for rent payments to property owners on certain tenants’ behalf; to expand exemptions from rent control and registration for certain single-family homes and two-unit properties; to allow property owners and tenants to agree to rent increases in exchange for services or amenities; to modify certain grounds for eviction; to allow tenants’ associations; and to remove certain powers from the Rent Board. Measure CC requires a majority vote for passage. 

Fiscal Impact: This initiative will likely incur administrative costs, it is unclear how costly it will be to implement.

Next Alameda County Measure: Measure DD

See Endorsements for Measure CC

Details

Pro/Con
Pro: 

Supporters argue that The lack of housing affordability in Berkeley has reached an all-time high. Building new housing takes time and it isn’t affordable for everyone. Berkeley needs housing options now.  

Preventing tenants from being displaced due to unexpected life events helps keep people off the streets. Berkeley needs a permanent rent relief fund for tenants in need. Measure CC addresses both these needs: 

  • It increases the availability and affordability of housing by encouraging small landlords to rent their homes to other community members. 

  • It provides a permanent rent assistance fund to help tenants pay rent, stay housed, and avoid homelessness. 

A YES vote on this measure means that you support using existing revenue to create a fund for rent payments to property owners on certain tenants’ behalf and expand rent control exemptions.

Con: 

Opponents argue that Measure CC is a Corporate Con by Berkeley’s largest landlords to: 1) Roll back rent control, habitability, and eviction protections;  2) DEFUND the city’s existing rental relief and affordable housing program in order to create a slush-fund for for-profit landlords; and 3) Make it harder for the Rent Board to protect tenants from health and safety risks. 

Measure CC does NOT increase affordable housing supply

  • Measure CC strips rent and eviction protections from units that already have them. This would allow rents to go up by hundreds of dollars per year for those units.

  • Thanks to Berkeley’s vacancy tax, landlords are already encouraged to rent out units that were previously off the market. 

A NO vote on this measure means that you oppose using existing revenue to create a fund for rent payments to property owners on certain tenants’ behalf and expand rent control exemptions.

In Depth

Current law imposes a tax on the gross receipts from the rental of five or more residential units.  This measure would place that revenue into a specific account and require that 20% of the proceeds be used for direct rent payments to property owners on tenants’ behalf. The measure would require the Finance Department to create rules regarding this program, with input from an oversight committee of nine members, appointed by the Mayor and City Council. The other 80% of the proceeds would go to the City’s general fund. 

The measure would also amend the Rent Stabilization and Eviction for Good Cause Ordinance, codified in Chapter 13.76 of the Municipal Code, in numerous ways, including the following:

  • Modify exemptions from rent control and registration by (1) replacing the exemption for two unit properties that were owner-occupied on December 31, 1979, with an exemption for all owner-occupied two-unit properties, where the owner of record holds a material interest in the property, and the tenancy was created after December 31, 2024, and (2) exempting properties with multiple ADUs.  Additionally, if state law (Costa-Hawkins Act) changes, the measure would exempt owner-occupied single-family homes where the owner owns two or fewer units in Berkeley.

  • Remove the Rent Board’s authority to carry out powers not enumerated in Chapter 13.76 and the Rent Board’s ability to intervene as an interested party in litigation. 

  • Modify the Rent Board’s powers and duties, by requiring a City Auditor audit every three years and by providing that commissioners would no longer be compensated. 

  • Increase the maximum limit of annual rent increases based upon inflation from 7.0% to 7.1%. The measure would also allow owners and tenants to agree to a rent increase above applicable limits for increased services or amenities. 

  • Grant the City’s Code Enforcement department the sole, exclusive discretion to determine whether a unit has failed to substantially comply with the warranty of habitability and applicable state and local housing laws, in the context of petitions for individual adjustment of rent ceilings. 

  • Modify certain grounds for eviction by (1) prohibiting non-payment evictions for less than one month of rent, unless the tenant has not paid for more than 90 days; (2) allowing evictions for violations of health codes and city ordinances; and (3) requiring 60 days’ notice before eviction for failure to renew a lease. 

  • Allow tenants in a property to form an association to confer with owners over common issues, if tenants representing two-thirds of the occupied units sign a petition. Owners would need to confer with associations in good faith, but the Rent Board would not be permitted to further define that obligation. 

Measure BB on the 2024 general election ballot is a conflicting measure.  If this measure and Measure BB both pass, the measure with more affirmative votes will become law, and the other measure will not. 

Source: City of Berkeley Ballot Measure Documents

Voter Resources

City of Berkeley Voter Information

Alameda County Election Resources

Share |