Dueling tenant protection measures hit Berkeley ballot

BERKELEY — Two competing measures proposing changes to renter protections in Berkeley will appear on the November ballot, with one backed by the City Council and the other by Berkeley landlords.

Measure BB, the city’s proposal, and Measure CC, a citizen’s initiative, both call for dedicating funding toward rent relief, requiring landlords to negotiate with unionized tenants and largely leave rent control exemptions in place for Golden Duplex owners, or properties that were owner-occupied at the end of 1979 and currently have an owner living in one of the units.

But the measures differ widely on other issues.

Measure CC would expand rent control and eviction protections to all owner-occupied properties and remove local eviction protections for tenants in single-family home rentals, allowing home owners to move back into their homes without paying up to $26,000 in relocation assistance. It would also allow for annual rent increases of up to 7.1% and for rent to be increased if improvements were made to the inside of a unit by owner and renters permission. Measure CC also permits tenants to unionize if at least two-thirds of residents agree and only allow for a three-day eviction notice to be issued once a tenant is in arrears at least one month of rent.



https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/09/11/measure-cc-measure-bb-berkeley-renters-protections/