By Marin IJ Editorial Board
PUBLISHED:
The dilemma faced by residents pushed from their homes in the red-tagged apartments at 6 Romar Court illustrates the need for a stronger ordinance protecting tenants in Novato.
The success of the effort will hinge on how those protections and their extent are defined. As the saying goes, the devil is in the details.
Before deciding these matters, the Novato City Council should make sure that reasonable concerns voiced by local landlords are addressed in the drafting of the ordinance.
They are stakeholders, as well.
Landlords feeling that their side was unrepresented in the local tenant protection law led to a 2024 referendum in Fairfax, where voters – by a 63% majority – threw out the law the council had approved.
A similar outcome took place in San Anselmo.
Not every landlord is a corporate conglomerate. Many are local families.
In Fairfax, for instance, some landlords argued that the town’s tenant-protection laws would lead them to take their properties off the rental market, which means the loss of affordable housing.
The situation involving 6 Romar Court is clear. Tenants had to move because city inspectors red-tagged the complex as unsafe and unfit to live in because of structural problems, mold, dry rot and fire-safety issues.
The city’s order displaced 42 residents.
Novato officials are drafting a tenant protection ordinance to provide tenants with prior notice for eviction, and require landlords to pay certain relocation assistance if the evictions are caused by the owner deciding to no longer provide rental housing, the property is red-tagged or the tenants have to move out because the building is being renovated. It could also require displaced tenants to be offered the right to return to those properties where they are displaced due to repairs and improvements.
The law would also apply to most types of rentals, including duplexes and houses.
Gina Guillemette, chief strategy officer for Community Action Marin, has been involved in the city’s dialogue leading to the draft ordinance. “We know that the state law is not strong enough to protect that basic standard of fairness and predictability and stability that this ordinance is designed to put in place,” she said.
Those displaced are cast into crisis situations where finding affordable housing is not easy due to its limited supply. Many are faced with paying higher rents or being forced to leave the county.
They should not be punished for an owner’s mismanagement of the property.
Building its supply of affordable rental housing is a priority for Novato.
According to the latest census figures, roughly one-third of Novato’s housing is rented out.
City leaders need to make sure they have looked at all sides of the possible ramifications of the proposed law.
If the law prompts frustrated landlords to take their rental units off the market, it’s not going to help the city’s progress toward its housing priority.
The council will hold a public workshop on the proposed law on Tuesday.
City staff says the draft ordinance is a proposal “out there for the sake of discussion.” There’s room for changes, the city says. That’s the right approach.
The council needs to make sure City Hall has done the effective outreach needed to advise local landlords about the draft ordinance and invite their participation.
Can it adopt an ordinance that will avoid the fate of those in Fairfax and San Anselmo?
The city is working to respond to an obvious dilemma caused by city-cited conditions at the 6 Romar Court apartments. The city has a responsibility to protect the health, safety and welfare of its residents.
That’s what the law should aim to accomplish. Officials need to work to try to strike a consensus where it provides fair and reasonable protections for tenants displaced due to no fault of their own without creating legal requirements that prompt local landlords to take their properties off the rental market.