SF tenant advocates see win in Biden push for cap on rent increases

With calls for stronger renter protections growing louder in San Francisco, local tenant advocates are applauding this week’s announcement from President Joe Biden proposing federal legislation that aims to set a national cap on rent increases.

Given existing renter protections at both The City and state level, the proposal is expected to offer additional protections to only a relatively small subset of renters in San Francisco.

Nevertheless, winning the presidential seal of approval for one of the tenants-rights movement’s key policy priorities has buoyed hopes, as advocates rally in support of a November ballot measure that could greatly extend the reach of rent-control protections throughout California.

“We’ve never seen that kind of signaling from the federal government before,” said Shanti Singh of Tenants Together, a statewide coalition of tenant organizations that is headquartered in San Francisco. “To actually have a sitting president acknowledge that some form of rent control can be part of the solution, that’s a huge move in and of itself, I think.”

Tenant advocates say the need for renter protections has grown more urgent in recent years as pandemic-era eviction moratoria have lapsed and, they add, eviction filings have trended upwards in San Francisco. Advocates for local landlords contest this claim, citing separate data.

Biden’s proposal seeks to cap off rent increases at 5% per year. To do so, the measure introduces a new penalty for landlords — those who raise rents more than 5% would face the loss of a key federal tax break.

Pitched as a “bridge” that will help stabilize rents while a number of other Biden-backed measures aimed at producing more housing take hold, the proposed law would only last for the next two years. It would also only apply to landlords who own more than 50 units of housing.

The legislative push is seen as an attempt to address widespread voter anger over rising national rents . Biden made the announcement while campaigning in Nevada, a key swing state, which has seen housing costs skyrocket in recent years.

Here in San Francisco, the debate over rent control has led to bitter disputes and fierce recriminations during recent meetings of the Board of Supervisors. Last week, the board voted 8-2 to pass a resolution in support of a November ballot measure to repeal Costa-Hawkins , the 1995 California law prohibiting cities and counties from expanding rent control.

San Francisco’s own rent-control law offers significantly stronger protections than the 5% cap contemplated in Biden’s proposal. But due to Costa-Hawkins, The City’s law — first passed in 1979 — remains frozen in place, meaning that tens of thousands of units constructed in more recent decades are exempted.

For San Francisco renters living in such units, their main legislative safeguard against the region’s surging affordability crisis has been a rent-stabilization law passed by California lawmakers in 2019 , designed to prevent the most egregious cases of price gouging.

That law, which sets limits on rental increases based in part on the inflation rate, offers somewhat less stringent protections than Biden’s proposal — assuming that landlords are indeed cowed by the measure’s threatened tax penalties.

While some advocates point to the Biden proposal’s limited scope as evidence that it would have only marginal impact, others said they are hopeful for bigger gains, arguing that many also doubted California’s rent stabilization law when it first passed.

Despite those doubts, “there have been thousands of tenants in San Francisco that have benefited from that statewide law,” said Maria Zamudio, who helps lead the Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco.

“It’s a long time coming and the bare minimum that should have been done at our national level to ensure that folks have a roof over their heads and an affordable one at that,” she said of Biden’s proposal.

While there are plenty of doubts that such a law stands any chance of passing through a divided Congress, advocates also expressed hope that simply by elevating the rent-cap issue, Biden has helped advance their cause.

“It’s a very positive thing to see this show of support from the White House, paying attention to the plight of tenants,” said Mitchell Omerberg, an attorney with the Affordable Housing Alliance.

“I do think it’s a big rhetorical move,” said Singh, who contrasted the presidential show of support with the fights that have broken out during recent board deliberations over Costa-Hawkins repeal.

The episode has left behind a sour taste for tenant advocates.

“So I do hope if Biden is talking about rent control that we’ll see a little less second guessing of rent control from some of our supervisors — but, you know, that might be too much to wish for,” Singh said.

Opponents of rent control often warn that such measures distort the housing market by making new developments less profitable, ultimately hindering construction and the supply of new homes.

Such concerns have been voiced locally as well, including by Corey Smith, executive director of the Housing Action Coalition, an advocacy group representing housing interests. Still, when asked for comment on Biden’s proposal, Smith said that he is still reviewing the measure, including the extent of its potential financial effect on landlords.

Biden’s plan seeks to limit negative effects on the housing industry by exempting new construction. The proposal received more pointed pushback from advocates for local landlords.

“We believe that incentivizing the construction of new housing at all income levels, rather than further regulating the existing housing stock, is the best way to address housing affordability,” said Charley Goss, a spokesman for the San Francisco Apartment Association.

Editor’s note: This article has been amended to clarify that the San Francisco Apartment Association contests the claim that evictions are on the rise.