As working families in San Jose struggle with sky-high rents and unjust evictions, the out-of-town corporate landlords who own most of the city’s apartments make millions in profits.
That’s the takeaway from a new research report, Cashing In on Renters, that we released at San Jose City Hall today. We found that a family now needs to earn $113,040 just to afford the average two-bedroom apartment, and that the number of “no cause” evictions has increased by 270 percent in the past five years. Meanwhile, the average large landlord earns $2.9 million each year from Silicon Valley’s extreme rents.
Other key findings from the report include:
- Since 2010, over 2,200 households suffered “no cause” evictions, losing the roof over their heads even when they played by all the rules.
- Data from neighboring San Mateo County showed “no cause” evictions disproportionately target female-headed households, families with children, seniors, low-income households, Latinos, African Americans and Spanish speakers.
On Tuesday, April 18, the San Jose City Council will consider two ordinances to help address this problem:
- Requiring “just cause” for evictions, so landlords can’t kick out responsible tenants and hike up rents.
- Ensuring that landlords provide relocation assistance for tenants if their apartment is taken off the market for repairs or under the Ellis Act.
San Jose’s housing crisis is displacing some of our region’s most vulnerable residents. Next Tuesday we can take two big steps to protect these renters.
