We conducted a survey from 2/18-23 to 2/22/23 asking about rental housing. There were 308 responses. We do not claim that the responses represent a full cross-section of the residents of FF. The survey was open to all via NextDoor, and requested via a FairfaxResident’s email blast, however due to the limited outreach, homeowners and housing providers made up a greater proportion of respondents. These are questions asked of housing providers, homeowners and renters. With the exception of some obvious attempts at gaming the results (from a national political organization), the listed results are an accurate reflection of the survey answers. We very much appreciate those residents who took the time to answer, and followed the rules by only answering once. Our goal is to accurately reflect what the community feels. Accuracy and honesty is what you expect, and it is what we strive for.
We thought the above question brought good insight into how many housing providers are considering taking their units off of the market because of Rent Control. Up to about 30% of the units may be taken off the market in one form or another because of owner concerns. This is a huge point of concern as the removal of units can count against Fairfax’s quota of required new housing units. According to pages 25-26 of the HDC’s handbook, new ADUs and JADUs count as rental housing units. If the owner doesn’t rent, it may not be counted.
Comments
There were also numerous comments and stories. We find these to be the most insightful. (This survey section was added for the last 200 respondents only). All survey comments are included here (including all tenant and DSA comments.) Each block is a complete survey comment as submitted.
Thanks for doing all this for the residents of Fairfax!
This is just the beginning of hell. Oakland has the ordinance that I have to pay for vacancy, and I have a tenant that is not paying for 3 years and I can’t evict him. I am trying to sell it with very low offers.
I am a fair hard working family man. I don’t ever want to evict someone for no reason but I have a mortgage to pay which the tenants contribute to. If I can not collect the rent then I for close on the home. I have seen hard working people come and go over the years. There are however people who take advantage of the system and do not pay the rent they agreed to and stop paying all together. As it is now it still takes months to get these people to move out. Making those laws more difficult for the land Lord just means there will be more people saying why should I pay rent when my friend got to stay for a year rent free. We are all doing our best to survive. Please don’t make it harder for everyone (including tenants) who will then be negatively impacted by gun shy landlords who won’t rent to people because they have been taken advantage of.
Rent control (additional) is a bad idea for any community! There is plenty of data to support this. Any additional controls over private property will degrade the rental stock and cause undue hardship for mom and Pop investors (like us). There are enough controls from the state already!
The council is a failure. They are spending money on changing the name of SFD instead of fixing the road. Hellman has a racial bias against white Fairfaxians voting. The council has been swept away by the Socialists and their ordinances will only make things worse by lessening the number of rental units.
We had a couple living in our rental unit that illegally brought another tenant into our property who put a lock on one of the bedrooms.One of the initial tenants died of a drug overdose so her partner had to leave the rental , meanwhile the illegal subtenant got an attorney and we ended up paying lots of money to get her to leave….and this was all WITHOUT the severe just cause ordinance s that are currently in Fairfax! These new rent control and just cause ordinances are horrible for both tenants AND property owning landlords!
We experienced “rent control “ in both Santa Monica and in Venice (Los Angeles) for decades and witnessed first hand how detrimental it was to the neighborhoods we lived in
I would like to FORCE the TC to have regular interactive meetings where they ANSWER the questions posed. Just watching them hear questions and never answer is a HUGE waste of time and makes most people checkout
My husband and I are new to the community. We started looking first for a home to rent. We were struck by the generosity of the landlords / property owners in town. It made us fall in love with Fairfax. We’re a middle-class young family and we used to bidding wars in Marin. We first looked at a signal-family home in Fairfax. It was 2021 and the home owner told us that she was interested in renting to us, but she felt called to be of the covid-relief efforts. She said she first wanted to become approved for Section 8 vouchers and if she could do that, she’d choose that tenant over us. She succeeded. We looked at another home, a duplex. The home was a bit small and we asked about the tenant under the home in a studio. Might that come on the market and we could rent both? The owner said no, the tenant was an elder poet on a tight income, and the owner wanted to ensure that neighbor always had a place to live. We rented an Airbnb in Fairfax. A few weeks at first, and then we spoke to the owners to see if it was possible to stay longer. They said yes! They loved that we loved the home and wanted to treat it as our own. We negotiated a 6 month lease, at a much lower rate than the Airbnb nightly rate. We kept looking for a longer-term option. We met a neighbor in town who wanted to sell her home. She offered to sell it off-market to us. It didn’t matter to her that she got the “highest bid” return. She wanted help us find a home, and she wanted to find neighbors who might be community members. We are so grateful for the constant generosity we were shown when we moved here. We want Fairfax landlords / property owners to feel that gratitude. Empathy is the community culture here. We believe there should be plentiful low-income housing options in town and that long-term Fairfax residents should feel confident that this community will have a home for them. We should be ensuring we are all supporting the housing needs, subsidizing low-income housing with our shared property / sales taxes. It feels unjust to place the burden of subsidizing housing costs on a few property owners, who may themselves be part of a vulnerable low-income population.
I have read others’ stories about sub-standard facilities or 10% annual increases. These are important issues to address. There are some landlords that are shady &/or greedy. Maybe a standard for registering JADU, ADU, Duplex, Multiplex & Apt bldgs. If room rentals are included, higher reported income may cancel SSI or other retirement $$ in taxes. Fine line there… Should not include retired/elderly homeowners just trying to keep up with utilities, property taxes & maintenance costs by renting to lodgers. I have had “The Roommate From Hell” sharing my house & it was an expensive & time consuming process to evict her – 25 yrs ago! Caused me to literally have a nervous breakdown!
Rethink and repeal the ordinances as they are now.
This is an out of touch and divisive ordinance. It would be very bad policy. In the end tenants would lose out.
Recall all town council & staff
The FTC has become too full of themselves and considers the resident citizen not really a factor when making decisions. The above is only a portion of what is going on at town hall. They act as if they are only answerable to themselves and, to date, have acted only in their own self-interest. Your organization is to be commended for your efforts. Thank you.
Thank you for all that you are doing. It is mind boggling how out of touch the Town Council is and thank you so much for trying to educate the Town Council.
I have never evicted a tenant in over 25 years. I have never raised the rent on an existing tenant either, except once by a reasonable amount when I had a tenant for ten years.
the town has ‘taken’ my income souce and i cant believe they are allowed to do this after the state has practically begged for people to add adus and jadus..i also oppose deed restrictions attached to adu permits.. and for the record- i support building housing on top of single story bldgs and retro fitting bank buildings and commercial spaces..we have buildings-lets turn them into housing
Personally know a nightmare story of family that rented a room in their house in SF. Years later, lawyers and $10’s of thousands of dollars later they were able to get the unwanted tenant out – but at huge $ tag.
I was evicted from my home in San Anselmo 10 years ago, for owner move in, my son was 5, it was traumatizing. The house was re-rented a year later. No one can afford to have their housing costs go up by 10% a year, or even most years. I don’t believe stronger rent control will drive up housing prices in Marin. This has always been the most expensive county in a very expensive area. More expensive than the city which has had rent control for decades. If someone invests in rental property or even rents out part of their home, they have to keep in mind their tenants are living there, it’s the tenants home. They will raise their children there, work nearby, it’s not a casual thing to force them to move. It’s a very very big deal. Just some thoughts. Thank you. (By the way, I’m also a landlord)
My rents are very affordable but if these ordinances are adopted I will no longer be able to provide rentals at all.
We already have too many complex issues that are being punted to the voters instead of being handled by elected officials. It’s their responsibility to talk with experts/stakeholders, and then pass laws that will serve the needs of our community. If stakeholders feel that those laws are unjust, then they need to have a civil dialogue with town officials to get them amended, rather than just screaming the same diatribes over and over again.
In my short time as a new homeowner here, but a long time fan of Fairfax – from everything I’ve seen and known about this place – we can do this well, vote and heal. I’ve never lived in a place where most folks I meet love this place – renters and homeowners. It’s a special place – we need to lean into that and come up with a good approach and then vote and feel a sense of agency around the decision vs soreness, potential apathy and anger –
I will need options moving forward, to afford my $1000./month Property Tax
My elderly disabled family member will hopefully be purchasing a home this year near us in Fairfax. We had hoped to purchase a home with space for a live-in caregiver for reduced or in-exchange rent. If the Just Cause ordinance stays in place (unless drastically changed) we will not rent out the space but instead hire home care.
Look at the blight caused by restrictive rent control in Berkeley. They created a ghetto which Fairfax will have if this unlawful taking is not stopped.
The subletting provisions and mandatory relocation fees for moving back in or taking unit off the market are the deal breakers for me
The Town Council is negating market forces in favor of rent control but does not know the costs and expenses of each landlord and cannot determine or guarantee that any landlord can sustain their rental units without at least breaking even or making a profit.
This situation is very distressing. We have been landlords for 34 years and have a very good track record with many long term tenants. Our property is part of our retirement plan and we are a year from full retirement. We stand to lose value of our investment if these ordinances are not repealed. The town council should not be able to make these decisions on their own and especially without a vote. The ripple effect will impact the quality of life in Fairfax for all.
As a property owner and landlord for the last 35 years in Fairfax, I feel I should be able to vote on ordinances that directly affect my livelihood.
While I may need to rent out a room in my house in the future these Ordinances are generally bad for Fairfax . They will distort the rental market with some people getting to stay at a much lower rent than others.
Single mom, just purchased house in Fairfax and was about to start building ADU but these ordinances have me very scared that I may get our family into a sticky, dangerous or expensive situation with un-vetted sublet tenants, inability to take back over our ADU if needed, difficulty selling with tenant in, etc. I am strongly considering not building or not renting my ADU and frankly am a little disappointed I didn’t just buy in San Anselmo. These ordinances, enacted without vote, or clearly much research or forethought, are disappointingly shortsighted and frankly irresponsible.
My 90 y.o. Mother needs the rental income and eventual $ from sale of this/her home/ADU she should not have to keep her caretaker/renter when she moves to a nursing home- she has dementia so has no say and the town doesnt give her a say either. She should have the right to evict without having a lawyer negotiate/force her to give up her hard earned estate she was counting on for her end of life care.
My Life’s savings is tied up in my house. Rent control could be kick in the gut for me. Had I known, I would never have invested. It is shockingly and egregiously unfair to do this without my say or my vote.
My rental income is my retirement income.I am 79 years old; my husband is 88; getting a job or side hustle to make up for lost income is not an available option. We have lived and voted in Fairfax for more than 40 years. My husband’s cardiology team is located here. These ordinances would force me to sell my properties and move elsewhere because I cannot take the financial risk they represent if I cannot increase rents enough to cover the expenses of the mortgage, property taxes, insurance, maintenance and improvements or to give notice to tenants who damage the property or do not pay the rent. We would lose our network of friends, neighbors, services, and access to our medical network. The initiative for the ordinances did NOT come from Fairfax residents. It was initiated by the Socialist American Democrats ( I hope that’s the correct name) , a group of housing activists who neither live/rent in Fairfax, own property in Fairfax, nor offer rentals in Fairfax in conjunction with the Berkeley Rental Board and the free services of Legal Aid of Marin. The Town Council betrayed their duty to represent the needs and interests of their constituents, to take sides with people who are neither their constituents nor likely to ever be. That is a breathtaking dereliction of duty.
Not fair
i don’t really know that much about the ordinance. My rent is reasonable as long as i don’t ask the landlord for anything. Long term renter with a reasonable increase about every three or four years. To stop gentrification we have to stabilize rent and housing costs.
This must go to a town vote!!
I rent out a single property in Berkeley and am quite familiar with how it all works there. It is immensely constraining and a frightening prospect if one ever needed to leave the rental market – which, of course is a given, at some point in every property-owner’s life. But the Fairfax ordinances contain clauses that are much much more extreme than Berkeley’s. Ludicrous, in fact.
I have rented out my In-Law. unit for 40yrs. It has made it affordable for me to live here. I worked very hard to buy this house when I was 23. I always kept rent low to keep a good tenant. Always had good relationships with tenants. I lucked out my tenant gave notice in December. I will never rent it out again! I am now in my sixties and can’t afford to lose everything I have to a bad tenant. I am considered low income for Marin {grocery clerk} and rather work couple days a week in my retirement than have a tenant again.
By taking away landlord protections to evict and control rental amounts they will stop building ADU’s and will remove units – it also discourages landlords from fixing up their properties and contributes to sub-standard rentals. No landlord wants to terminate a good tenants lease agreement. Landlord’s want to terminate tenants who cause problems and under this existing ordinance a landlord has limited options. California rent control is sufficient and we do not need more than is already law.
I’m so grateful for rent control! This is one piece of the puzzle to ensure affordable housing in our town.
First I would like to say Marin does need affordable housing- and this ‘just cause’ ordinance is NOT the way to create this. This puts an unfair burden on Fairfax home owners with a rental unit. It will create less rental units on the market and lower real estate values. I have been a renter in Marin all my life. In my last 3 rentals in Fairfax I have been evicted because the owner was selling the home. I am not angry about this. I’m smart enough to know that an owner, who has invested 100’s of thousands of dollars, should be able to sell a home if they need to – free of an existing renter. I know Marin is an expensive place to rent and own. I am realistic- I know that if I can’t afford to pay high rents in a city, the universe is saying I need to move somewhere else. This is too impactful an issue to be left in the hands of the Town Council. It should have been voted on. Rescind ‘just cause’ or recall 4 of the non-responsive town council members. Can we please direct all this energy to focusing on creating affordable housing?
While I don’t own a rental in Marin, I do in Sonoma County. When I had a tenant quit paying rent, it took almost 6 months to get him out and house was trashed. Small landlords are not the super wealthy as portrayed. They to need to make a profit to keep their houses up to date and in good condition. To demonize them is so wrong. It is also wrong for them being made responsible for the well being of others.
We’ve offered housing for 25 years in Fairfax and have never evicted a tenant. We care about maintaining a good relationship with our tenants that we share property with so we don’t raise rent annually and when we do its never more than our tenants can comfortably afford. These ordinances should only apply to large rental operations that serve corporate interests or bad actors with large units. Throw out just cause for Mom and Pops. It only hurts our seniors.
Re rent control- rental increases should be based upon the cost of living capped at 5%.PERIOD!!! 60% of the cost of living is ludicrous. COL is generally 1-3% (rarely 3%). Last year was an anomaly – 2000/mo rent, 2% COL, 60% of 2% is $24/mo rental increase. Will not buy a cup of coffee for 2 weeks. Meanwhile landlord subjected to full COL, plus increase in taxes, maintenance and insurance. Where this tc came up with 60% is beyond my comprehension!! PS… renting a room in my home I am exempt from this part of the ordinance anyway. Just think it is perfectly absurd!!’ As far as just cause goes…too many things wrong to even bring anything up!!!
Fairfax should be leading on equitable housing and increasing affordable units. This may be imperfect but it it establishes bold goals. Landlords could be working with the council to establish a task force to monitor challenges and successes that informs future advancements or amendments to the rules.
I own two homes in Fairfax and 1 Adu unit. Rental two bedroom and my daughter is a school teacher in San Rafael and lives in ADU unit. I have never had to evict a tenant. I want total control of my properties as I have lived in Fairfax since 1976 and owned these also since then . I am retired and 73 years old.
I have provided an apartment for rent to very happy tenants for 35 years. I have never evicted anyone and rarely raised the rent. These ordinances are not needed for mom and pop type landlords and will harm every aspect of landlord/tenant arrangements.
I don’t think there is a problem. I think the relationship between tenants / landlords are reasonable for both/ The state protections are fine.
The State of CA has regulations in place already.
Have always rented below market value and feel the town has no business being involved regulating Owner with live in tenant. Extremely upset about what our Town Council is dictating. I am a 50 year Fairfax resident and love this community!
The eviction laws are terrible and unfair to landlords. I cannot rent out my two rooms now.
Rent control doesn’t produce the intended consequences. It doesn’t work.
Thank you for the survey
I have been a homeowner in Fairfax for 28 years and wanted to rent out a room as I got closer to retirement but I will not do that now. The members of the Town Council that voted for this do not represent me. I will not vote for them in the future. I am a hard working homeowner who barely makes ends meet and I am a school district employee.
Let the people vote!
This is a landlord biased survey. There are 3 landlord specific questions that do not apply to tenants and there no tenant specific questions.
I need the option to rent a room in retirement but this legislation is overreach and strips away private property rights and creates an untenable burden for homeowners.
We have lived here more than 40 years and may want to rent or sell our home in the near future. If the ordinance is left in force it will cost us many thousands whether we rent or sell when we have to move into a home …how is this ordinance not taking our property with out compensation. The city will have stolen some of our property value with out a vote or compensation ruining our last years. Who do they think the are what were they thinking? Why is this even happening? It will do nothing to solve homelessness so WHY?? The city will be putting old people who have paid there taxes here INTO homeless status. Hope they have to run for office soon. Thank you for this survey, hope they listen well.
These expensive and Draconian ordinances, to be administered by The Berkeley Rent Control Board which is comprised of zealots, need to be repealed. All parties need to be involved to arrive at a true fair solution. There is absolutely no reason a committee of Fairfax residents can’t act as mediators. The DSA, bunch of drones who can’t actually do anything real should be erased from the equation entirely, and no Council member already predisposed should have in input whatsoever.
I had rental in Pt Richmond. I bought this home new in 2004. Went down in value 300 % in 2008. It was rented below market value. When rent control came in l couldn’t raise rent for several years, nor even bringing it up to mark. Val. There were many fees l had to pay involved with thus. Taxes went up. I received less money to live on, my retirement income. I sold it, no more rental. It was a no Brainer. It was bought by a a live in owner. Reinvested in funds. lt was well known there by the realtors, price controls are unfavorable for the landlords and for property values.. a bad investment. So why would anyone Want to keep their assets in a rental . Many factors in for landlord rising taxes, and labor and .materials to keep property up , and maintain its value. This rental issue is something to be considered by both parties, both renters and all homeowners. It must be a win-win situation for both
There is no way you can tell if the people answering this poll are Fairfax residents or owners. That is a significant issue undermining the validity of any results.
We asked our last tenants to leave because of privacy concerns with our growing family. We liked them, and let them stay on for almost 2 years while they found another place. Under the new laws (We’re in unincorporated Fairfax, so they wouldn’t apply) we would not have been able to ask them to leave.
These are terrible ordinances that remove my property rights and lower my property value. They MUST be completely rescinded/ thrown out permanently.
My husband and I have had multiple, difficult experiences with tenants and incurred expenses due to them. The ordinances increase risk and the potential for more monies to be paid out due to difficult tenants. We can assume increase risk therefore properties will not be rented any longer.
I am lucky to have a very good tenant, but if I didn’t , I might be upset about the just cause eviction
I rented here in Fairfax for five years before purchasing. [Local Resident ed.] was my landlord and he treated me as a friend and was more than fair and responsive as a landlord. He only raised the rent once in five years when he added more space to the lease.
I want to be able to rent to family members or friends when the need occurs. I’m fine giving tenants 90 day notice, but I should have SOME control and choices over my home/investment that I’m completely financially responsible for, without paying someone thousands of dollars to relocate and/or go through Berkeley courts.
My rent has gone up $1,000 since I moved in. That’s a lot! My income does not reflect this same inflation! I make around $3,500 per month. I don’t look forward to continued yearly rent increases (3%, 5%, 10% etc, but 3% is better!). I’ll either have to move out or work 2 jobs. I’ll have to rent a single room in a shared apartment or house. As a single parent, my quality of life, while on the very low end already, will go down even further. Why do landlords even get the opportunity to be allowed a yearly increase? It seems this has simply been normalized. How is this normal? So yes! A cap of 3% is better than something higher. That’s why I agree with the current Ordinance, because my rent has been going up $100 per year for the past 10 years! Who decided housing prices? Relators! How do they decide on how much land/houses cost? Based on what? Their own greed! They are the ones creating these hugely inflated prices. Landowners are going along with it. Rubbing their hands, sure they’ll take as much as they can get! Pure and simple greed! The increases are due to greedy landlords, nothing more. The apartments I’ve been living in have been bought and sold for a profit ($100,000’s – hundreds of thousands of dollars or more) at least 3 of 4 times.
It’s disturbing that the TC has initiated this ruling without a vote of the residents living in Fairfax. This cannot happen in the future. Home owners need to manage their properties that they pay mortgages on themselves and Fairfax needs to offer these spaces for rent on individual basis. It needs to go back to where it was. It has been working for many people.
The Just Cause should be removed, as it is so far reaching, and absurd for lack of a better word. Rent control is fine, but seems redundant, as California already has a law in place for it.
Rent control is a policy that will lead to a reduction in rental units. A great mistake.
I have worked hard to own a home and find that just paying property taxes and bills is very difficult for me. I am an artist and my income fluctuates greatly and is extremely low. I rent the home to help afford to maintain my home as it is my biggest investment. It frightens me that Fairfax feels the need to mandate rent control rules that are beyond what the state mandates. I now feel very stressed about my future and the options that I have as I near retirement. I am 62 years old.
The property adjacent to me was a rental, and the landlord cannot evict the woman for two years because of existing laws he put his house up for sale out of frustration because of the council and acting laws that favor the renter this affects mom and Pop owners the most if this is not repealed, people will not buy the properties in Fairfax because of this law
Fairfax has always been a place where people listen to each other and work out their problems. With a city-run program like Berkeley’s, you tend to attract people who are looking to game the system, unfortunately. The new State law seems fair, and won’t give an unscrupulous or crafty tenant the right to make a homeowner’s life hell. The very real fear of this happening will keep rentals off the market in fairfax – maybe it will turn into an air b-n-b, or maybe it will be sold (at a loss) to someone who will not rent it out. The community loses.
As older adults on a fixed income rent control is crucial to our stability going into our 80’s.
this is a poorly designed and biased survey.
The people against this ordinance really need to stop the hyperbole, disinformation and “slippery-slope” fallacy logic. All investment opportunities are inherently risky, now it’s time to stop the risk-free train you all have been on. That being said, I don’t think Mom and Pop landlords renting out rooms and ADUs should be subject to all of these rules. That’s the one tweak to make.
Rents are so high now in Fairfax. As a retired person on a fixed income I support the ordinances. Without them I could not afford to live here.
If it wasn’t for the kindness of one landlord, and now the strong belief in affordable housing, I couldn’t afford to live in Fairfax or work in [somewhere close ed.] – serving the greater community and bolstering the natural abundance so many have worked to protect. I serve the public daily for less pay than I am worth and I whole-heartedly support rent control keeping this area accessible to the young, old, and financially less fortunate.
I am beyond grateful to town council and the DSA for passing these ordinances and attempting to level the playing field. Please continue to stand strong and uphold the ordinances. Please continue to fight for the rights of those of us whose voices get buried in the cacophony of the privileged.
Try using a process similar to the Marin Organizing Committee’s to gather stories and engage landlords to make establish rent control and just cause eviction laws. All landlords are not the same. Perhaps consider how potential ordinances affect small and large landlords. Many small landlords are part of the community and most large ones are not.
I don’t think we should be outsourcing this responsibility especially at such high cost when some of that money could be spent on local issues such as housing homeless people.
Currently a tenant. Young mom of two toddler boys- low income. I am college educated, graduated from [a] UC[], I work full time in the Real Estate industry to afford daycare/groceries/rent and I’m barely surviving. Fairfax is home to my parents and they are my only support system I have to help with me with my kids. That’s why I am here. Marin is unattainable for most millennials like myself to buy, a renter is something I’ll always be if I want to live here. Having protections has allowed for piece of mind that my rent won’t skyrocket next month because the landlord feels like it. Some of the landlords have been extremely hostile in this conversation about rent control and just cause evictions, that I don’t feel comfortable supporting some businesses anymore, I don’t feel comfortable speaking out, and what makes Fairfax a community is now being ripped apart because some of these landlords- the power holders- made an investment and haven’t paid attention to local politics until now. Some of these landlords pay on their second homes with tenant money and plan on using the money from tenants as their retirement- they are using the backs of tenants to pay for their luxuries. Finally tenants have some protections.
I support Rent Control and Just Cause Eviction (with some minor tweaks). Long overdue!!
Most of your questions are skewed towards owners and not tenants. So I don’t see how this questionnaire gives a fair assessment. The questions themselves seem skewed towards the homeowners who want the ordinances repealed. I want the ordinances to be fair for tenants and homeowners alike. But these questions, as a tenant don’t make me feel safe that the homeowners who are having trouble with the ordinances want what’s fair for everybody.
As a landlord in another state, I would not be bothered by these ordinances if they passed there. My rental is part of the long game – it’s not there for me to get rich now, but rather part of my retirement portfolio down the road. I don’t need to raise rent or let disrepairs happen because it’s MY investment. I will be the one better off in the future. Also, I like having a young family there. I hope my low rent helps set them up for the future. I wish landlords here felt the same. They’re just plain old greedy. Renters shouldn’t have to shoulder all of their finances, but they do. The whole threat of “we’ll pull the rentals off the market” is very telling of the greed. Who lets buildings sit because they either want a lot, or none at all? Poor people certainly don’t think that way. Also, I don’t see a large amount of houses for sale in Fairfax either. It’s all a bluff from rich folks that have zero qualms requiring their tenants to be overworked just for a roof over their head.
I have had many friends who had to leave the county because it is so hard to find affordable housing and friends who are horribly burdened by monthly rental payments that aren’t affordable. Over the years the increase in wealth for homeowners and the relentlessly increasing costs of renting has created two classes. These new ordinances could help with this unfortunate situation, they could help us have a healthier society.
These rental ordinances are extremely important and way past due for housing equity!
While I so appreciate this survey I feel it is for property owners and their opinions only. I see no difference in what tactics are being used now vs. what pro-rent control group did one year ago. At this point I wish we could work together as a community vs all or nothing.
Citizens of Fairfax voted in rent stabilization and tenant eviction restrictions. Folks who own property must respect what the majority of the town’s residents want.
I was a renter for many years, all my life, took until the age of 55 to buy in Fairfax as least expensive place in Marin. Rent control is crucial. But so is getting communities to control land use, including purchase of land under mobile home parks, and keeping rents low. Also we need to think “outside the box” long term. Cap on the sale price of homes of any sort. co-housing options. re-purposing of large homes as they come on the market. And in doing all this, we need to consider small landlords, i e people renting rooms inside their own home, renting tiny ADUs etc. And we must have buy in from both renters and these owners, or it will never happen. We need a coalition of them, and not go in as outsiders, DSA, which frightens people. I have served as elected local official in small town, I have represented coalitions of people enacting change. I have found that is the only way to enact chance.
I fully support the rent control ordinances. We desperately need to control the cost of housing.
I’m a former Fairfax renter in support of maintaining the rent control and just cause protections that the Town Council passed. Earlier in the year our landlord attempted to evict us, because she did not know about the just cause ordinance. When she eventually realized she could not evict us with no cause, she served us with a retaliatory rent increase with unfair reductions in services. Though technically we were not evicted, the damage was done — we knew she wanted us to leave, so we did not feel safe staying. This caused us to move out and not be able to find new housing in Fairfax.
My rent has gone from $1300 to $2400 in 14 years. Other people in my fourplex paying up to $3K (they have also had renovations). Granted my rent was low when I moved in, but anyone telling me the rents have gone up only 15% is hallucinating. Maybe if they start after a lot of the largest increases had already happened! My neighboring landlord still rents nice apartments for under $2K so I can understand why they feel threatened.
I’ve been both a tenant and a property owner who rents to a tenant. I respect both sides of the proposed ordinances. Fairfax is a wonderful community and with 34% of the community being renters, we need to do what’s right to ensure this population isn’t getting pushed out entirely. Everyone who lives in this small town enjoys the benefits of multiple grocery stores, a lively restaurant and music scene, shops to frequent, and year round events and festivities. The people who make these things possible are more often than not, those that do not own homes in Fairfax. Being able to live where you work inherently makes people happier which benefits everyone within the community. Diversity within our schools is also important and the only way to ensure that continues, is to have economic diversity within the community. Are we so elite that we can’t make some basic accommodations for those that most need them?
I don’t know that stats, but it seems that in Fairfax, there is not as much of a problem with unjust evictions. Alot of times, tennants misuse the property or are a nuisance to the neighbors and need to be evicted. I do believe there should be a cap on how much rent can be raised.
All parties that will be effected by new rental ordinances should be allowed to vote on the proposed changes.
My landlord is a very unstable person who makes rules and regulations based on his emotional states. I find that rent control will create far greater ease for myself and others. when he asks for more rent is very unknown. I know someone that he did not like that he kept raising the rent until the tenant finally left. No one else was getting their rent raised. He is not a fair landlord yet he needs to be seen as the savior and “good guy”
Legal details must be simple and clear for both tenants and landlords. Horror stories from both sides must be addressed in a smart coherent fashion.
I’m very concerned about the folks with ADUs and JADUs. They should not be included in the just cause eviction ordinance as written.
This ordinance will reduce availability of housing stock and is ill advised
Throw out both ordinances , rent control and eviction. Not necessary state regulations take care of it, Very poorly done, some items not even doable, waste of everyone’s time! overkill regulations, waste of money and time poorly written, should distinguish what applies to apartment buildings versus single family homes , owner occupied, both ordinances should be tossed and let it be. Abuse of council rights and power. Circumvented the people and right to vote. Redo and let voters vote on whether they want it or not. Taking landlord /property owner rights away. Wasteful use of money paying Berkeley 140,000 every 6 months. Source of funds?
I’m very much for rent control and just cause ordinances in the town of Fairfax. What people are renting their units for in this town is absolutely ludicrous and is hugely restrictive of who can afford to live here. Because of this, people that I would want to live in Fairfax end up having to leave: educators, blue-collar workers, artists. The cultural value of this town has gone way done because of this. Hopefully these ordinances will help put a limit on what people can rent their units out for. However, there are some issues that I think need to be tweaked to make the ordinances more appropriate to the type of homeowners and landlords (by and large) that make up Fairfax – folks that rent separate units out on the property they are currently living in as well.
If you support our cause to educate and inform around the issues of housing and extra rent control in Fairfax and Marin, please contribute to the Marin Residents PAC.
Thank you.