City Government

What Housing Moratorium Means for Oakland’s Tenants and Landlords

Published

10 years ago

April 8, 2016

The Housing State of Emergency adopted at the Oakland City Council’s Tuesday meeting went into effect immediately upon its passage.

The ordinance remains in force for 90 days, but can be extended by a vote of the council.

Under the law, no covered tenant should get a rent increase above 1.7 percent. It is illegal for landlords to raise rents above 1.7 percent unless the landlord files for a “fair return” increase with the city’s Rent Adjustment Program.

These regulations do not apply to rental properties built after 1983. Such properties remain unregulated because of the state’s Costa-Hawkins Act. Tenant advocates are currently seeking to modify or repeal Costa-Hawkins.

If an owner applies to the rent program, the tenant will receive a letter directly from the city announcing a hearing with the landlord that the tenant can attend and make objections.

No Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase (1.7%) can be given to a tenant whose rent has already been increased within the last 12 months.

A tenant who receives an increase above 1.7 percent should forward a copy of the notice to the city’s Rent Adjustment Program, which will notify the landlord that the proposed increase is invalid and must be withdrawn.

Owners are not permitted to increase rents based on “substantial rehabilitation” of the rental property.

These rules also apply to tenants who live in duplexes and triplexes where the owner is an occupant. These units were formerly exempted from the city’s rent ordinance but are not exempt during the state of emergency.

Under the emergency ordinance, the city’s “Just Cause for Eviction” law, enacted by ballot, remains unchanged.

Any “Notice to Vacate” must cite a specific reason listed among the causes in the just cause for eviction ordinance. Under the law, there are 11 legitimate causes for eviction.

A “Notice to Vacate” that does not list a specific and justifiable “just cause” is invalid. A copy of the notice should be forwarded to the city’s Rent Adjustment Program.

All owners and renters should receive a letter from the city within the next few weeks detailing their rights and duties during the 90- day period.

The City of Oakland’s Rent Adjustment Program is located at 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza, 6th Floor, Oakland, 94612. The department can be reached by phone at (510) 238-3721.

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Related Topics:Costa-Hawkins displacement housing state of emergency moratorium Oakland rent control

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Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

Published

3 days ago

July 5, 2026

Oakland Post

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Inaugural Juneteenth Awards Ceremony Celebrates the Fillmore’s Black History, Leadership and Resilience

Addressing more than 100 Black and Asian attendees, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie stated “San Francisco is reliant on the Black community, and we must invest in this community.”

Published

2 weeks ago

June 26, 2026

Oakland Post

District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, Rev. Dr. Amos Brown, Pastor Emeritus of Third Baptist Church, SF Mayor Daniel Lurie. Photo by Linda Parker Pennington.

By Linda Parker Pennington

The Fillmore Community Ambassadors held its first annual Juneteenth Wesley Johnson White Horse Awards ceremony on June 19 inside the newly reopened Fillmore Heritage Center.

The event featured awards for former San Francisco mayors London Breed and Willie Brown, along with Third Baptist Church Pastor Emeritus, Rev. Dr. Amos Brown.

The Koret Heritage lobby at the newly reopened center at 1330 Fillmore St. held a standing-room-only, culturally diverse and multi-generational audience while the art gallery featured photos of Fillmore community members in action, red Japanese lanterns, art and calligraphy, and Chinese artwork, giving the space a multicultural feel.

Addressing more than 100 Black and Asian attendees, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie stated “San Francisco is reliant on the Black community, and we must invest in this community.”

District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood acknowledged that “the Fillmore community has had a difficult history. Thanks to Rev. Amos Brown’s continuous focus on accountability and resistance, you hold us accountable and continue to inspire us.”

Mahmoud is referring to the Fillmore’s Japanese residents who were forced from their homes and sent to concentration camps during World War II. Black people occupied those homes until the return of their Japanese neighbors and then gave them back, while homes that had been unoccupied were lost. The presence of the Asian community on Juneteenth is a testament to that shared history.

In receiving his honor, Amos Brown elicited a powerful spontaneous call-and-response, where members of San Francisco’s many Black churches proudly shouted out the names: “Bethel AME! Providence Baptist! Jones Memorial! Glide!”

Awards program Master of Ceremonies Shawn Richards of Brothers Against Guns warmly introduced Breed, highlighting her many accomplishments, particularly on “March 16, 2020, when she became the first mayor to shut down a major U.S. city due to COVID-19, saving thousands of lives.”

The audience was captivated by Breed’s emotional speech touching on past traumas, present conditions, and future hopes for the neighborhood where she grew up.

She recalled another trauma of the neighborhood during the City’s redevelopment era in the 1960s, where Black residents were forced to move with a promise of being able to return that was largely unfulfilled.

“We remember when this land was just a field because they bulldozed hundreds of Victorian homes that Black people owned. They built the Fillmore Center, where most Black people can’t afford to live or start their own business. But we are still here.”