A newly formed tenant’s association is accusing their landlord of raising rent at their Fairfax apartments in defiance of the town’s rent control law.
The town’s rent stabilization ordinance, passed by the town of Fairfax in November 2022, currently caps rent increases at about 2.5% through next summer, with some exceptions.
But the Lanai Tenants Association says most tenants living at the 33-unit complex, the Lanai, for at least a year received notice their rent would increase by about 5% at the start of this year.
Liliana Lavezzo, president of the Lanai Tenants Association, said some residents refuse to pay more than they say is lawful, and many are scared.
“They’re scared of being kicked out, being evicted,” Lavezzo said. “To find a place here in Marin that’s affordable is complicated.”
Lavezzo lives at the Lanai with her sister while serving as her caregiver. She joined nearly 20 tenants and supporters in a New Year’s Eve rally outside the Lanai Apartments to protest the rent increase. She said rent went up $100 for a one-bedroom to about $2,050 per month.
“I felt like it’s our duty to fight,” Lavezzo said.
The Lanai Tenants Association has the backing of the California Center for Movement Legal Services, which, in a Dec. 24 letter, has called on the landlord to rescind all unlawful rent increases and issue appropriate refunds, writing that “failure to comply with the law will result in my office filing a legal action against you.”
The executive director of the California Center for Movement Legal Services, Leah Simon-Weisberg, said, as of Jan. 4, she has received no response from the landlord, who was given a five-day deadline to confirm in writing they would be “rescinding all unlawful rent increases.”
Simon-Weisberg said the landlord’s behavior is troubling but not an isolated case.
“It appears that several landlords in town are just completely ignoring the new ordinance,” Simon-Weisberg said in an interview. “In the United States, people have to follow the law, and that includes landlords.”
If a landlord is not making a reasonable return on their investment, Simon-Weisberg said, they can follow the appropriate process to determine whether they have the right to raise rent.
The Lanai landlord, Cathy Canine-Black, donated over $950 to the Keep Fairfax Fair Act, a November ballot initiative to repeal the town’s rent control and just-cause-for-eviction ordinances.
Canine-Black declined to comment.
A copy of a letter from the Lanai Apartments resident manager announcing the rent increase contends operating and maintenance costs for the property, such as water and heat, continue to rise, and property insurance has increased by 300% because of wildfire risks.
For 71-year-old Gregory Yates, the Lanai is like a slice of paradise. He said the space is well-maintained, the grounds filled with flowers and plants of all kinds. The location is beautiful, includes a pool, and is right by the hills where he and his partner, who is living on disability as an autistic person, love to walk.
But receiving the notice of rent increase filled him with dread.
“I’ve actually lived on the street for a short period of time years ago. I know what that’s like, and that’s what looms into view,” Yates said.
That transformed into relief when he learned about the rent control ordinance.
“I was shocked that there was hope on the horizon. Frankly, it was like the cavalry coming charging in,” Yates said. “It’s not like we have endless reserves and endless resources to go to if our rent goes beyond our ability to pay it.”
Come November, Fairfax residents will weigh whether to overturn the rent stabilization ordinance and its “just cause” eviction ordinance, which aims to protect tenants from arbitrary evictions.
Fairfax Councilmember Stephanie Hellman said the tenant protections came in response to community members who were being displaced and priced out.
The rent stabilization ordinance notes that approximately 36% of Fairfax rental households are extremely low-income, and 68% of Fairfax householders who identify as Hispanic or Latino are renters.
That initiative to overturn those efforts, called the Keep Fairfax Fair Act, aims to “bring the decision of additional rent controls and just cause back to the citizens of Fairfax.”
Michael Sexton, who wrote the majority of the preamble for the initiative, is the director of MarinResidents.org, an organization that argues that local rent control measures are unnecessary and create barriers to rental affordability. The group also has a PAC associated with it.
Sexton said the local rent control measures hurt both landlords and renters. He argued that local rent control does not help housing affordability for anyone “except those that want to stay in their apartments for the next 20 years.”
He said the ordinances divided the small town of Fairfax, and the community deserves a say.
“It’s not Oakland, it’s not San Francisco, it’s not Berkeley. And so these extra rent control regulations worried a lot of mom-and-pop landlords who depend on rental income,” Sexton said. “Marin has been a very expensive place to live, there’s no doubt about that. But the one way that you have an economic effect to make it less expensive is to create more housing.”
The Lanai Tenants Association is now determining its next steps. Gregory Yates, the longtime tenant, said he’s still grateful to live at the Lanai. But he also strongly advocates rent control and feels compelled to speak out against unlawful rent increases.
“There’s too many vulnerable people out here, and they are very important to me in my heart,” Yates said.
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