So after writing my last post to the Berkeley landlords, I did some research into what, exactly, are legal rent rates and why so many landlords are charging $1650-$2000 for two-bedroom apartments in not-so-great, not-so-close-to-campus neighborhoods.
As it turns out, there's this large middle finger pointed at tenants, given by the State of California on behalf of property owners, and it's called the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act of 1995.
In it, the California Legislature accomplishes the following, which were intended to moderate the "extreme" rent control famous in the 1980s in Berkeley, East Palo Alto, West Hollywood, Cotati, and Santa Monica: exempts housing constructed after 1995, previously exempt buildings, and single-family dwelling units (apartments/condos) from rent control. This means, according to the act, that owners can establish their own initial rental rates for each new tenant in a given apartment (except when those new tenants are legally protected by certain government aid, or when the owner has unreasonably evicted his/her tenant).
It further stipulates that local city governments are in charge of establishing certain rules, including eviction rules, sublease provisions, and defining substandard housing.
There are a couple of things that concern me:
-No rent control unless it is redefined and established locally (in Berkeley, "rent control" means rent can't increase during a person's tenancy)
-Rental rates are determined by "what the market is willing to bear," but in cities (like Berkeley) with such a housing shortage, tenants often have no cheaper options.
As long as this law is in effect and there are parents willing to shell out $900 for their kid to live in a dump next to the homeless park with six other people, there will always be high rent in cities with predominantly short-term tenants (year or less).
In a city priding itself in being so progressive and hip, I wonder what the Rent Stabilization Board is actually doing by making it nearly impossible for low-income families and students to live here. It's too bad the UC's dorms are more expensive.
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Housing for college really sucks. Its ridiculously overpriced. My sister goes to UCSB and she lives in the infamous Isla Vista and there were apartments although they were near the beach they were still only 2 bedroom apartments that were horrible dives and ridiculously small going for $3000 a month.
It is a huge problem because college kids cant exactly move to another area with a lower market level without getting pushed into bad areas and slums and even apartments that dont appear to even be up to code.
Of the California cities, though, Berkeley seems to have helped clamp down on the slum thing. But San Francisco is really where the best rent for best quality and best legal protection can be found. The good thing abou the local governments redefining parts of the Costa-Hawkins Act is that in Berkeley, places that I consider dumps are still legally tenable because everything "works." Whether it works well is another story.
I live in a primo apartment now that I love--except the bum and distance from campus-- but our fridge is moldy on the inside, the temperature/humidity are inconsistent and the shelving has been threatening to fall apart for months. But the landlord won't replace it until there are new tenants, because (and this is conjecture, because of course it's illegal to announce this explicitly) even though the temperature and humidity are inconsistent, it doesn't mean that the refrigerator isn't working at all, which would present the only health issue that would render the fridge replacable.
I wish that the University would have actually given us an accurate estimate of off-campus housing when I applied, or that the Feds wouldn't define off-campus housing based on the national averages for the FAFSA, because I would have considered more carefully attending an in-state school. It's probably about the same to live here and pay tuition as it is to go to NYU and live in their nice, cheap dorms.
My sister had friends that lived in apartments that were set on unstable sea cliffs to get a cheaper price on their apartments. Compared to the area they were considerably cheaper but substantially more dangerous. I think this is somewhat representative of what people are willing to do to get cheap housing by campus. You know its bad when the apartments right next door were closed down because they were deemed unsafe.
yeah, I'm just hoping that the days of auctioning off apartments to the highest bidder are over. It's already common practice to pay two apartments' rent if you found a great place that you had to sign right away.
If I have time, I might apply to be a Rent Board Commissioner. Someone's gotta do something about this, and it might as well be someone who's on the tenant's side of things.
The good old entrepeneurial spirit. You gotta love it. Housing prices are so expensive in Southern California even though the market has slowed down. Its not even that nice here. I wonder who spreads all this false information. I think a lot of people from out of state think California is still made out of gold for everything. Of course they forget how bad the public education system is etc.
It's true, and when the feds think I'm filthy rich because my parents happen to live in California, I get less financial aid. Lame.
My parents bought our house for like, $25,000, and 19 years later our house is theoretically worth $800,000, but it needs about $30,000 worth of work if we ever want to sell it (there's no floor in the master bathroom, for example, and the ducting hasn't been replaced since the house was built in the '50s)... and that makes my family able to contribute 90% of tuition every year? ugh.
I love how the state of California takes the incomes of the people that live in the same household as you and assume that all of their money will be put towards college expenses and come up with ridiculous numbers of financial contributions for college. This happened to me when my parent's savings for retirement were taken to be part of the college contribution by the state. It was amazing seeing how many thousands of dollars we could supposedly contribute.
Oh, I know! It's a federal thing, though, and it's skewed by the ridiculous cost of living in any reasonably tolerable part of California.
Now that my dad is old enough to access his retirement, they count that as contributable income, even though he's not actually using any of it. And the fact that I have three jobs to make up for what my parents can't contribute works to my disadvantage for every subsequent year of financial aid...
you kidding me?! california's great ALL the time. so is New York! in fact, all the other cities inbetween LA and NYC don't even matter. but then again, im just kidding.
good post. it's true, living here is helluhxpensive. good thing i get military benefits. "XD
There are parts of every place that are less awesome, though, and housing is one of them in California.
Military benfits anit all that, you must be a young buck cause that will only get you so far and it is because of all of us here working to support your free loading ass in the baricks, you get to travel not all around the world like you all make it seem but you all dont you may pass through some places so i say to you u anit seen it all and done it all till you hit up every town and county in the states that there is to and done what there is to then thats when you can earn the right to say you been there and done it,
California is the Best State. I don't care what anyone says/ this state is the way that it is because of the people living in it. If people don't like the way that it is, then they need to get off they're high horse and do something about it. Im sick and
California is the Best State. I don't care what anyone says/ this state is the way that it is because of the people living in it. If people don't like the way that it is, then they need to get off they're high horse and do something about it. Im sick and