Opinion

Op-Ed: State Complicit in Affordable Housing Crisis

Published

10 years ago

March 14, 2016

By James Vann

Part III

Oakland’s longstanding rental and affordable housing crises continue relentlessly. To the shame of local policymakers, very little has been done at a significant magnitude to alleviate residents’ suffering.

<p>

On its own, the market does not stem displacement or produce renter protections and affordable housing.

Only governments can perform these functions. Left to its own devises, the market will not provide housing to meet the mounting needs of lower income residents, who are an ever-growing majority of residents.

The state government is not innocent. Actions and non-actions at the state level have mostly made the local housing crisis worse.

Three particularly egregious state programs cripple local efforts to address housing problems: the Ellis Act of 1985, the Costa-Hawkins Housing Act of 1995, and the “Palmer vs. City of Los Angeles Decision” of 2009.

The Ellis Act permits wholesale, no-cause eviction of tenants when an owner no longer desires to operate rental housing — often a ploy to evict current tenants to make way for more expensive rents.

Costa-Hawkins — an accomplishment led by Gregory McConnell of Oakland and acknowledged with great pride on his website — erodes rent control by deregulating controlled units following each vacancy.

More recently, the Palmer Decision eliminated the ability of cities to impose inclusionary housing requirements to provide specified percentages of affordable units within a market development of rental housing.

The roots of the Costa-Hawkins Act are local. For years, State Senator David Roberti (LA), Judiciary Committee Chair, blocked the heinous Costa-Hawkins bill in committee.

When Senator Roberti was termed out in 1994, Berkeley’s beloved and presumed liberal Senator Nicholas Petris was appointed the seceding chair.

As one of his first acts, Senator Petris, a Berkeley resident and rental property owner, betrayed his local constituents and released the Costa-Hawkins bill to the Republican-controlled legislature.

The bill was passed overwhelmingly by the Republican house, and has since been a plague on renters and rent control programs all over the state.

While there may be little local residents can do to change federal housing policies, this is not at all true of state laws. There are urgently needed programs that can be implemented by the state that will significantly relieve the crisis being endured by tenants, artists, homeless and low-income households.

Despite having both a Democratic governor and solid majority legislature, there are no indications that needed improvements will occur without consistent mass organizing and ongoing pressure.

Here are some of the actions that are needed:

Declare a general “State of Emergency in Rental Housing” to permit a period of relief from the epidemic of astronomical rent increases and no-cause evictions so that remedial programs can be proposed.

Repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Law, which greatly restricts the ability of cities to establish, monitor, and maintain equitable regulations or fair rents and unwarranted evictions.

Repeal the Ellis Act, which permits wholesale elimination of rental buildings and mass eviction of current tenants, allowing units to be replaced with luxury condominiums.

Reverse the L.A. Superior Court’s Palmer Decision, which prohibits cities from enacting inclusionary zoning — a program that formerly permitted cities to require that a percentage of a market development (usually 15 percent to 30 percent) must be affordable to lower income households.

Before the Palmer Decision, every city in the Bay Area had an inclusionary housing requirement – except Oakland.

Use a large portion of the state budget’s surplus to create a fund for local communities to build housing for very low-, and low-income individuals and families. Presently, persons on fixed income, Social Security, SSI, or disability can only be served by federal Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers and the quantity of these units is woefully below the need.

Make it illegal to reject a tenant’s rent, or to claim non-receipt, as the basis for issuing a three-day notice, followed by subsequent Unlawful Retainer eviction of an otherwise fully compliant tenant.

Establish a fund and program of loans and grants to Land Trusts. These developments are one of the only forms available for permanently affordable housing that does not escalate with irrational markets or inflation.

Establish a fund and program of loans and grants to enable cities to purchase abandoned and vacated industrial buildings to be made available for affordable sale or rental to artists and community non-profit social services organizations.

Enact an administrative procedure to authorize city and county attorneys to initiate legal action against patterns and practices of owner harassment of tenants. Present state law puts the responsibility on tenants to file suits in small claims or superior courts — a remedy that is not affordable to many.

Reinstitute Redevelopment and Tax Increment Financing, programs that for decades enabled cities to build affordable housing.

Enact statewide bonds of $2 billion to finance the development of “mini-home communities” for homeless persons and families.

Enact statewide bonds of $5 billion to aid developments of critically needed affordable housing.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of February 11 = 17, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 11 – 17, 2026

Published

2 days ago

February 16, 2026

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

#NNPA BlackPress

COMMENTARY: The National Protest Must Be Accompanied with Our Votes

Just as Trump is gathering election data like having the FBI take all the election data in Georgia from the 2020 election, so must we organize in preparation for the coming primary season to have the right people on ballots in each Republican district, so that we can regain control of the House of Representatives and by doing so, restore the separation of powers and balance that our democracy is being deprived of.

Published

1 week ago

February 10, 2026

Oakland Post

Dr. John E. Warren, Publisher San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper. File photo..

By Dr. John E. Warren, Publisher San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper

As thousands of Americans march every week in cities across this great nation, it must be remembered that the protest without the vote is of no concern to Donald Trump and his administration.

In every city, there is a personal connection to the U.S. Congress. In too many cases, the member of Congress representing the people of that city and the congressional district in which it sits, is a Republican. It is the Republicans who are giving silent support to the destructive actions of those persons like the U.S. Attorney General, the Director of Homeland Security, and the National Intelligence Director, who are carrying out the revenge campaign of the President rather than upholding the oath of office each of them took “to Defend The Constitution of the United States.”

In California, the primary comes in June 2026. The congressional races must be a priority just as much as the local election of people has been so important in keeping ICE from acquiring facilities to build more prisons around the country.

“We the People” are winning this battle, even though it might not look like it. Each of us must get involved now, right where we are.

In this Black History month, it is important to remember that all we have accomplished in this nation has been “in spite of” and not “because of.” Frederick Douglas said, “Power concedes nothing without a struggle.”

Today, the struggle is to maintain our very institutions and history. Our strength in this struggle rests in our “collectiveness.” Our newspapers and journalists are at the greatest risk. We must not personally add to the attack by ignoring those who have been our very foundation, our Black press.

Are you spending your dollars this Black History Month with those who salute and honor contributions by supporting those who tell our stories? Remember that silence is the same as consent and support for the opposition. Where do you stand and where will your dollars go?

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Post Newspaper Invites NNPA to Join Nationwide Probate Reform Initiative

The Post’s Probate Reform Group meets the first Thursday of every month via Zoom and invites the public to attend. The Post is making the initiative national and will submit information from its monthly meeting to the NNPA to educate, advocate, and inform its readers.

Published

1 week ago

February 10, 2026

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Tanya Dennis

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) represents the Black press with over 200 newspapers nationwide.

Last night the Post announced that it is actively recruiting the Black press to inform the public that there is a probate “five-alarm fire” occurring in Black communities and invited every Black newspaper starting from the Birmingham Times in Alabama to the Milwaukee Times Weekly in Wisconsin, to join the Post in our “Year of Action” for probate reform.

Reporter Tanya Dennis says, “The adage that ‘When America catches a cold, Black folks catch the flu” is too true in practice; that’s why we’re engaging the Black Press to not only warn, but educate the Black community regarding the criminal actions we see in probate court: Thousands are losing generational wealth to strangers. It’s a travesty that happens daily.”

Venus Gist, a co-host of the reform group, states, “ Unfortunately, people are their own worst enemy when it comes to speaking with loved ones regarding their demise. It’s an uncomfortable subject that most avoid, but they do so at their peril. The courts rely on dissention between family members, so I encourage not only a will and trust [be created] but also videotape the reading of your documents so you can show you’re of sound mind.”

In better times, drafting a will was enough; then a trust was an added requirement to ‘iron-clad’ documents and to assure easy transference of wealth.

No longer.

As the courts became underfunded in the last 20 years, predatory behavior emerged to the extent that criminality is now occurring at alarming rates with no oversight, with courts isolating the conserved, and, I’ve heard, many times killing conservatees for profit. Plundering the assets of estates until beneficiaries are penniless is also common.”

Post Newspaper Publisher Paul Cobb says, “The simple solution is to avoid probate at all costs. If beneficiaries can’t agree, hire a private mediator and attorney to work things out. The moment you walk into court, you are vulnerable to the whims of the court. Your will and trust mean nothing.”

Zakiya Jendayi, a co-host of the Probate Reform Group and a victim herself, says, “In my case, the will and trust were clear that I am the beneficiary of the estate, but the opposing attorney said I used undue influence to make myself beneficiary. He said that without proof, and the judge upheld the attorney’s baseless assertion. In court, the will and trust is easily discounted.”

The Black press reaches out to 47 million Black Americans with one voice. The power of the press has never been so important as it is now in this national movement to save Black generational wealth from predatory attorneys, guardians and judges.

The next probate reform meeting is on March 5, from 7 – 9 p.m. PST. Zoom Details:
Meeting ID: 825 0367 1750
Passcode: 475480

All are welcome.