Burbankers! Help put an eviction-protection measure on the 2020 ballot!

The passage of AB1482, which limits annual California rent-increases to 8%, is an important step to solving California's urgent housing crisis, but thanks to lobbyists for the massive private-equity landlord industry, the bill contains a huge loophole: if landlords evict their tenants before January 1, they can effectively escape the bill's strictures.

In most California cities, this loophole is relatively minor, because landlords can't simply evict good tenants who pay their rent on time and treat their homes with respect. But some cities -- like Burbank, where I live -- allow for "no fault" evictions, in which landlords can simply evict tenants on 60 days' notice, even if they have never missed a day's rent.

The combination of the deliberately introduced loophole in AB1482 and Burbank's deficient tenant protection law has put the city's renters -- about half of our residents! -- at dire risk of eviction. Whole buildings' worth of people -- retirees, families with young kids enrolled in local schools -- have been evicted, with a deadline to vacate during Christmas week.

Last night, I spoke at a City Council meeting calling for an emergency measure to stop the evictions. Despite my remarks and those of dozens of other Burbankers, the council voted 3-2 against the measure.

The Burbank Tenants Rights Committee is now collecting signatures for a line-item initiative for our 2020 ballot that introduces comprehensive tenants' protection for Burbankers.

The Committee is soliciting donations to pay for the initiative, including paying wages for people to collect 6,200 signatures to get the issue on the ballot. Read the rest