OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KGTV) — Housing remains one of the biggest challenges across San Diego County, and Oceanside is taking steps to address the crisis affecting its residents.
Data shows nearly 74%of all renters in Oceanside pay around one-third of their monthly budget on rent; meanwhile, 44% pay half of their income towards keeping a roof over their heads.
WATCH — Reporter Dani Miskell breaks down the proposed measures aimed at helping Oceanside tenants maintain some stability:
Oceanside Deputy Mayor Eric Joyce, who is helping lead the initiatives alongside Councilmember Jimmy Figueroa, said, "That means they don't have space to pay for car emergencies, if they have to pony up for something at the emergency room; everything puts these folks who are living on the edge out of our city and possibly in the homelessness if a bad day happens, and that just shouldn't be the way people live."
At Wednesday's meeting at 6 p.m., the Oceanside City Council will consider enhanced measures designed to keep tenants in their homes and provide additional housing stability.
The proposed tenant protections would build on existing state laws, and the Oceanside City Council will consider additional protections that would:
- Slash the state's annual rent increase cap from 10% down to 5%
- Create a legal defense fund for residents facing eviction
- Require landlords to provide tenants with easy-to-understand summaries of their rights when signing new leases
Joyce said the protections are geared towards working families, and these solutions target specific issues affecting responsible tenants. He adds that the 5% cap would only apply to about 18,000 homes in Oceanside, due to highly restricted state laws on what rental caps can be applied to.
"So these protections are for folks that are paying their rent on time, they're following their lease, but they're getting moved out of their housing through no fault of their own, so these protections would specifically give them a little bit more breathing room if their landlord decided to do that," Joyce said.
However, several council members have voted down these proposals in an initial reading.
Joyce said some council members were arguing that there needed to be protections for the small mom-and-pop landlords who worry that added regulations could hurt their ability to manage their properties.
Leonard Tucker is an Oceanside landlord who owns one property in the city, and he highlighted the financial pressures property owners face.
"Landlords are responsible for insurance, water, and trash, depending on how things are set up at the prospective property," Tucker said. "Myself, I pay for water, I pay for gas. I pay for, insurance, which has gone up for me 30%, and that's if you can even find insurance on your building, so it's just a difficult situation for both sides".
Joyce said if the council approves the measures Wednesday night, they will proceed to a final vote in two weeks.
Joyce said the proposed changes could impact thousands of families with some relief and rental stability as soon as mid-September.
To find the staffing report on the tenant protections proposal, click here.
