Morro Bay becomes latest SLO County city to protect against rent hikes, evictions
Joining cities throughout California, Morro Bay adopted an urgency rental ordinance Tuesday to help protect residents against exorbitant rent increases or evictions.
The Morro Bay City Council voted 4-0 in favor of an ordinance designed to prevent landlords from taking advantage of a legal loophole in advance of a new state law that goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.
Other local cities such as San Luis Obispo and Grover Beach have also passed similar ordinances, as well as California communities including Los Angeles, San Mateo and Redwood City.
Morro Bay Mayor John Headding, who said he owns two rental units, recused himself from the vote.
But Headding spoke in public comment as a citizen in favor of the ordinance.
“It’s necessary to protect citizens from potential evictions,” Headding said. “I’ve heard horror stories across the state of people being evicted.”
California Tenant Protection Act takes effect
AB 1482, the Tenant Protection Act, was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct. 8 and takes effect on New Year’s Day.
The law prevents landlords, in advance of the new California law, from evicting tenants without “just cause.”
Just cause may be applied when when the tenant has breached the terms of the lease or engaged in other misconduct.
Under the law, a landlord also may issue an eviction notice when the landlord wants to move into the unit or chooses to remove the unit from the rental market, according to Morro Bay officials, but the landlord has to provide relocation benefits for up to one month’s rent for law-abiding tenants who have lived the residence of 12 months.
The law caps rents to 5%, plus the rate of inflation, for a maximum of 10% per year.
Before Tuesday’s vote, Morro Bay didn’t have similar protections on its books in alignment with the impending California legislation.
SLO County renters express concerns
Morro Bay city staff and council members were contacted by county residents who said they’d already received notices from landlords of their evictions in the interim period before the law kicks in.
“One resident in Grover Beach, for instance, received a notice that says they must move out of their home before the end of the year,” the city’s staff report stated. “There are concerns that Morro Bay residents may receive similar notices prior to January 1, 2020, and initiation of AB 1482.”
City manager Scott Collins told The Tribune that no specific complaints have been made in Morro Bay related to landlords taking advantage of the loophole.
The city’s new law aligns with the state’s in that rents would be capped to the limits in the Tenant Protection Act, going back to March 15, 2019.
However, renters who already paid any amount beyond the cap won’t be able to recoup that money.
“The bill also provides that the landlord will be able to keep any ‘overpayment,’” the city staff report stated.
This story was originally published December 12, 2019 at 4:45 AM.
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