Half Moon Bay continues talks on rent control

What may become of Half Moon Bay’s rental registry program, which identifies all rental units in the city, was still up in the air.

At the City Council’s Tuesday meeting, various new options were presented to the council, including keeping a local rent control ordinance in place in compliance with state law, which would raise the rent cap to the lesser of 5% or CPI. Currently, this law is only enforced via private lawsuits, but introducing it into the ordinance would allow the city to enforce it locally while giving landlords more flexibility, City Manager Matthew Chidester said.

The option would also stipulate that the rental registry be kept in place.

More information on how this would be enforced and how many units it would impact would be required before councilmembers could make an informed decision, Mayor Debbie Ruddock said.

“I can’t make a decision on a concept like that,” she said.

Staff also presented two other options to council: keeping the rental registry as a data and compliance tool while eliminating the rent control ordinance entirely and expanding rental assistance and legal services, or eliminating both programs in perpetuity.

Vice Mayor Deborah Penrose has long been an advocate for keeping the rent control program as is and asked for that option to be presented to the council at a further meeting even without majority support. She advocated strongly for the underprivileged members of the community that more stringent rent control benefits.

“Three years ago, I was so proud of our council for taking up the cause of those less fortunate and deciding to do something that would be positive and helpful and kind,” she said. “I don’t know where our hearts are. I don’t know where our sense of justice is. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”

Program data shows that as of Jan. 1, 586 units have been registered, exceeding the number of units the city originally estimated. In May 2025, 377 units in Half Moon Bay were rent controlled, although the city could not immediately provide up-to-date data.

Councilmembers had received around 60 letters from tenants who struggled to pay rent in Half Moon Bay, Councilmember Robert Brownstone said. The city had previously struggled to obtain testimony of renters, however, landlords and Realtors have been consistently coming to City Council meetings en masse to oppose the ordinance.

One real estate agent, Judy Taylor, suggested that the city target its few bad landlords before punishing the group as a whole with unnecessary regulation.

“Let’s use [Assembly Bill 1482] and all of the other tools to bring everything we can to bear on these folks ... before we start creating these whole new bureaucracies,” she said during public comment.

During the meeting, some tenants, like Jose Guadalupe Avilla Cruz, also spoke to the council about the challenges they face keeping their families safely housed in the city and asked that they keep rent control in place.

“I’m a father of three. Years ago, I lived with my family in one bedroom, because, unfortunately, Half Moon Bay is expensive. Throughout the years, my kids grew up. I have a daughter who needs her own space now, because she’s a girl,” he said. “If there’s no rent control, I won’t be able to pay for a higher rent. That’s why I’m asking for help.”

Councilmembers who previously voiced support for ending rent control, like Councilmember Paul Nagengast, continued to share the opinion that the ordinance was overbearing for a city of Half Moon Bay’s size. Concerns were also raised around the safety of the data contained in the rental registry.

“If we wanted a local program or to talk about what’s available in a small city, you get a landlord, tenant, Realtor together, and that discussion can lead into something,” he said. “I’m not a fan of the registry program, just creating these databases. I’ve had a couple of residents contact me who aren’t comfortable with the ability of having their information corrupted and/or mined by somebody.”

Although the deadline to decide what to do with the program is approaching in a few months, Councilmember Patric Bo Jonsson said it was good for the City Council to continue to flesh out the best option for the city — including various legal aid and rental assistance the city can provide with the help of nonprofits.

“I’m not sold on any right now. I’d like to hear more data, more presentations,” he said.