A proposal to protect rent-paying, lease-abiding tenants from eviction stalled on Thursday after its authors conceded they could not drum up the 41 votes it needed to pass out of the state Assembly before a key legislative deadline this week.
…On the other side of the debate are those who view tenant protections as essential to curbing homelessness, which has risen dramatically in recent years amid steep rent increases and a lack of affordable housing. Too many people are being evicted from their rental homes, said Sasha Harnden of the Western Center on Law & Poverty. “Having nowhere to go from there,” he said, many are driven onto the street.
Still, Harnden said he was relieved the Assembly passed at least one of the pro-tenant proposals. “Regardless of what else happens, the rent cap bill is significant,” he said. “It puts the brakes on the biggest rent increases we’re seeing that are outside the normal course of business. We view getting the notice for a 100 percent rent increase basically the same as an eviction notice: It’s time to go.”
