Half Moon Bay approves rental assistance after rent control repeal

Councilmembers quickly devolved into argument at their June 2 meeting over whether the program was an appropriate substitute for Half Moon Bay’s former rent control ordinance, which was repealed in May in a 3-2 vote. 

“I think it’s a very bad replacement,” Vice Mayor Deborah Penrose, who was one of two councilmembers to vote for keeping rent control, said. “I will vote for it because it’s the only thing we’ve got. It’s the only thing this council’s been able to come up with. It is, however, going to cost us an additional $100,000 that we wouldn’t had to spend.” 

Previously, the city’s rent control ordinance set a maximum annual rent adjustment to the lesser of 3% or an 80% cap in changes to the consumer price index, which continually adjusts and is linked to the price of common goods. It applied to multiunit properties built before Feb. 1, 1995, with a $286 per year fee for each unit to be paid by property owners. Unlike state regulations, which caps rent changes to the lesser of 5% and CPI, or 10%, and are only enforced via private lawsuits, Half Moon Bay’s ordinance was theoretically enforced locally.

That ordinance is no longer in effect, and the city will also no longer require landlords to identify units they own in Half Moon Bay. 

The new rental assistance program, which was approved unanimously, offers equity to all residents struggling with rent, not just those in units built before 1995, Mayor Debbie Ruddock said.  “It achieves the goal of equity in the delivery of the service,” she said. “This service will help renters that don’t live in pre-1995 housing. It’ll serve any renter that meets the eligibility requirements.”

Although the short-term assistance program could theoretically offer 100 residents $1,000 to help with rental costs or offer 200 residents $500, rents are systemically increasing at high rates, Councilmember Robert Brownstone, who voted not to repeal rent control in the city, said. 

“I think that it seems ironic to me that we repealed a rental stabilization and rental registry program that was a structural solution,” he said. 

Ruddock, who voted to repeal rent control, scolded other councilmembers for going off topic in their defense of the now-defunct program.  “Don’t use this as a place to grandstand for your own ideologies and personal agendas,” she said. 

Penrose disagreed with that assessment. 

“It is related directly to the shameful action this council took when they got rid of the rental registry and rent stabilization,” she said. 

In addition to the $100,000 that was approved for direct assistance, the city also approved $20,000 for the program’s administrative fees, all of which will come from Half Moon Bay’s affordable housing fund. Applicants must generally be at or below 60% of the area median income, reside in Half Moon Bay and provide documentation of financial hardship or housing instability.