In 2024, Alameda County’s elected officials considered strengthening local rent control ordinances, spurred by advocacy from resident groups and activists. 

After years of relative silence while neighboring jurisdictions made a lot of noise and changes to their rent control ordinances, elected officials in Alameda County are listening to advocacy groups and are proposing local ordinance changes as a result.

These advocacy groups had been waiting for years for an opportunity to make a move. Their opportunity came after an incident where a new parkowner misinterpreted the county ordinance and raised rents beyond legal limits. 

Although the mistake was quickly resolved (the parkowner admitted fault and rescinded the rent increase), the fact that the discussion took place at all still served as a chance for activists to point to what they call “abuse” by parkowners. Activists used this opportunity to demand county supervisors to re-open their rent control ordinance. 

WMA and parkowners pushed back, explained to the supervisors that the ordinance is working well (evidenced by the quick resolution to the mistake made by the new parkowner), and suggested a collaborative effort to resolve any issue as they come up. 

After months of discussion, supervisors asked their staff to begin drafting a park conversion/closure ordinance instead. This had been the residents’ back-up ask all along. While WMA and local parkowners have pushed back on false information spread by activists about the need for this ordinance (no parks are planning to close), we are encouraged by the fact that supervisors have indicated an unwillingness to re-open their rent control ordinance at this time. 

The same cannot be said in the city of San Leandro. Council members asked their staff to begin drafting amendments to their rent control ordinance. WMA and parkowners have met with city staff, and we are currently scheduling one- on-one meetings and park tours with individual council members. 

As has been the trend recently, the proposed amendments would reduce the yearly cap, reduce the percentage of CPI allowed for yearly rent increases, and possibly eliminate any increases on turnover. These are the same types of changes that have swept through the Sonoma County region over the past two years, leading to deteriorating relationships between cities, residents, and parkowners — including several lawsuits and hundreds of thousands of dollars of costs for all sides involved. 

To prevent the spread of these contentious changes and their results, WMA, —alongside parkowners — will continue to engage with policymakers, advocating for balanced regulations that consider both tenant protections and the financial sustainability of the community.
Saulo Londoño is WMA’s Regional Representative for the Northern California/Bay areas. He can be reached at saulo@wma.org.