The Oakland City Council’s Community and Economic Development Committee voted to advance an an ordinance to help tenant relocations last Tuesday, June 30 2018, and on to the full City Council for final passage July 10 2018.
Under the ordinance proposed by Oakland Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney (District 3) and Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, (At Large) the City of Oakland will make available no interest loans to fund required tenant relocation payments for cash-strapped homeowners seeking to return to their homes.
Councilmembers Gibson-McElhaney and Kaplan report (via Councilmember Gibson-McElhaney’s newsletter of June 29th) that to qualify, distressed low-income homeowners “must meet a strict set of criteria including”:
- Own 5 or fewer units in the City of Oakland,
- Be of low-income or have less than 6 months of financial reserves
- Be denied a cash-out refinance loan on their property, and
- Certify that the relative moving in is also low or moderate income and does not own any other real estate property.
“This common sense anti-displacement legislation helps preserve the social and economic diversity of home ownership in our City, especially of African American and other lower income legacy owners,” said Councilmember McElhaney in her newsletter. “This is about addressing all sides of displacement and not pressuring legacy owners who want to return to their homes to sell them.”
Councilmember Gibson-McElhaney reports that In January of this year, the Oakland City Council amended wha is called “The Uniform Residential Tenant Ordinance”, and requiring that tenants who are evicted for an owner or relative move in receive relocation payments. The payments range from $6,500 for a studio or one-bedroom unit to $9,875 for a three or more bedroom, with 2/3 of the payment to be made before the end of 2 years.
In her newsletter, Councilmember Gibson-McElhaney explains that “Despite the addition of a payment schedule, these payments can become a hardship for low income and low asset owners, especially those who need to recover possession of their homes to support themselves or relatives.”