The City of Oakland appears ready to join the short list of California cities regulating “tenant buyout agreements” – i.e., providing consideration to tenants to voluntarily vacate their rent-controlled rental units. Cities like San Francisco, Berkeley, Santa Monica and Los Angeles view these negotiations as inherently unequal, given that a landlord can threaten to perform an owner-move-in eviction or an Ellis Act eviction if the tenant doesn’t agree to accept money to leave.
The ordinance would add Section 8.22.700 to the Oakland Municipal Code. It would require disclosures of tenants’ rights, provide for a right to rescind (within 25 days, along with requirement to file the agreement in 45 days), and impose “vacancy control” constraints (the old rental rate) if a landlord threatened an OMI or Ellis eviction within 180 days. (Otherwise, a tenant move-out, even for payment, would be considered a “voluntary vacate” allowing a market rate increase.) The ordinance also imposes penalties for non-compliance, including enhanced penalties for non-compliant buyout agreements with elderly, disabled and catastrophically ill tenants.
