The ordinance also imposes the following requirements on
landlords:
- Apartment complexes of 3 or more units in a single structure must be registered with the city
- No more than 2 rent increases within a 12-month period
- Landlords are required to provide tenants a copy of the Mountain View Rental Housing Dispute Resolution Program (RHDRP) Notice when upon renting a unit, renewing a lease or increasing the rent. A copy of the notice can be downloaded from the city web site. http://www.mountainview.gov/depts/comdev/preservation/mediation.asp
Earlier this year Mountain View passed the Right to Lease
ordinance 5.16, which requires landlords to offer tenants option of a 6-month
lease and a 12-month lease. Landlords, at their discretion, may also offer a
month-month option, but this option cannot be at a lower rental rate than the
lease options. http://www.mountainview.gov/depts/comdev/preservation/right_to_lease_ordinance.asp
The RHDRP ordinance does not impose binding arbitration and
is a far cry from strict rental caps, however, it does start to impose modest obstacles
to rent increases.
The Mountain
View Tenants' Coalition filed a rent control initiative that would limit annual rent increases to between 2 and 5
percent, with the exact rate tied to changes to the Bay Area Consumer Price
Index, a measure of inflation. The initiative also calls for a just cause
ordinance, which would require landlords to have specific reasons, such as
non-payment or lease violations, to evict tenants. Tenant advocates will need
to gather 4,761 valid signatures by mid to late June in order to ensure
the measure will appear on the November ballot.
