Welcome to the Rent Stabilization Board site at the City of Berkeley, CA. [more...]
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CONTACT A HOUSING COUNSELOR - Rent Stabilization Board Housing Counselors provide information to tenants and landlords about their rights and responsibilities under the Berkeley Rent Ordinance and California Rental Housing Law. To contact a Housing Counselor by e-mail, please send an e-mail to: rent@cityofberkeley.info. Drop-in counseling is available at our office located at 2125 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704 (northeast corner of Milvia and Center Streets, downtown Berkeley), or by phone at 510-981-RENT (510-981-7368).
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FREE MEDIATION SERVICES - Are you a tenant or a landlord of a Berkeley residence? Embroiled in a landlord-tenant dispute? Want the help of a neutral third party in resolving this problem? Interested in exploring whether a free, quick, non-adversarial and informal process would work for you? The City of Berkeley's Rent Stabilization Program offers a no-cost mediation service that can be an effective and efficient way to resolve disputes. Typical issues or problems that can be addressed in mediation include, but are not limited to: roommate disagreements, entry for repairs, noise complaints, privacy rights, rent due dates/late fees, and move-out/eviction issues.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - BERKELEY RENT STABILIZATION BOARD PROVIDES EMERGENCY GRANTS TO QUALIFYING TENANTS DISPLACED BY HASTE STREET FIRE -- On November 18, 2011 a fire destroyed the Sequoia Apartment building at 2441 Haste Street. This fire gutted 2441 Haste St. and also damaged a neighboring apartment building at 2435 Haste Street, owned by the same property owner. In response to this fire, the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Program has provided counseling and advice to affected tenants and has partnered with other City departments to provide immediate and long-term assistance and resources. [more...]
RENT STABILIZATION BOARD
PUBLIC NOTICE - 2012 ANNUAL GENERAL ADJUSTMENT ADOPTED -- At its regular meeting on October 17, 2011, the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board adopted the Annual General Adjustment (AGA) Order for Year 2012 which will allow eligible landlords to increase the 2011 permanent rent ceilings by 1.6%. The 2012 AGA of 1.6% represents 65% of the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for All Urban Consumers in the Bay Area during the 2010 fiscal year (July 1, 2010 - June 30, 2011), which was 2.4% as posted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The 65% of CPI formula was approved by the voters in the November 2004 general municipal election. [more...]
NOTICE TO ALL PROPERTY OWNERS IN BERKELEY - New California State Law Requires Carbon Monoxide Device(s). Effective July 1, 2011 all single family dwellings must have carbon monoxide devices installed. And all multi-unit dwellings as of January 1, 2013. [more...]
RENT BOARD UPCOMING LANDLORD AND TENANT
WORKSHOPS FOR 2012 - All workshops will be held at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St., 3rd Floor, Community Meeting Room [more...]
EVICTION/SECTION 8/FORECLOSURE
COMMITTEE MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT - The Rent Stabilization Board's Eviction/Section 8/Foreclosure Committee will meet Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. The meeting location is the Board's Law Library located at 2001 Center Street, 2nd Floor, Berkeley, CA. For additional information, please call 510-981-7368. [more...]
RENT STABILIZATION BOARD MEETING NOTICE - The next meeting of the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board is scheduled for Thursday, February 16, 2012, at 7:00 p.m. The meeting location is the City Council Chambers, Maudelle Shirek Building, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, 2nd Floor, Berkeley, California, 94704. Meetings are open to the public and are televised live on Berkeley's Cable Channel 33 and broadcast live by KPFB radio station (89.3 FM). Rebroadcasts are televised on Cable Channel 33 the day following the meeting and on Sundays, according to Channel 33's schedule. Meetings are also broadcast live on the internet, http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/CalendarEventWebcastMain.aspx, and video archives are available for past meetings. For additional information please call the Rent Stabilization Board offices at 510-981-7368. [more...]
FREE HOUSING COUNSELING FOR SENIORS - Next session: Friday, February 17, 2012, North Berkeley Senior Center. In addition to their regular Rent Stabilization Board office hours Monday through Friday, Housing Counselors from the Berkeley Rent Board offer free, one-on-one counseling sessions. Counselors assist both tenants and landlords by answering questions on housing topics, including habitability problems, mediation (disputes with tenants, co-tenants, managers or landlords) security deposits, rent control, evictions and unpaid rent. [more...]
FREE SATURDAY COUNSELING
for Landlords and Tenants at
the Berkeley Central Library - Next Session: Saturday, February 18, 2012. In addition to their regular Rent Stabilization Board office hours Monday through Friday, Housing Counselors from the Berkeley Rent Board offer free, one-on-one counseling sessions at the Berkeley Main Library one Saturday per month. Counselors assist both tenants and landlords by answering questions on housing topics, including security deposits, rent control, evictions and unpaid rent. For more information, please contact Moni Law at the Berkeley Rent Board, (510) 981-7368. [more...]
OUTREACH COMMITTEE MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT - The Rent Stabilization Board's Outreach Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Feburary 17, 2012 (agenda to follow). The meeting location is 2001 Center Street, Law Library, 2nd Floor, Berkeley, CA. For additional information, please call 510-981-7368. [more...]
FY 2011-2012 REGISTRATION INFORMATION - REGISTRATION FEES WERE DUE FRIDAY, JULY 1, 2011. [more...]
TENANT ELIGIBILITY FOR $4.00 REGISTRATION FEE PASS-THROUGH REIMBURSEMENT
2011 - The Rent Stabilization Board approved Resolution 11-02 which authorized landlords to pass through a portion of this year’s fee for tenancies that commenced prior to January 1, 1999. Landlords may pass through $4.00 per month for 12 consecutive months after they pay their 2011-2012 registration fee and provide their tenants and the Rent Board at least thirty days’ prior written notice of the increase. [more...]
SECURITY DEPOSIT INTEREST INFORMATION and CALCULATOR - Federal interest rate for February 2012 move-out is 0.5%. Berkeley interest rate for February 2012 move-out is 0.2%. [more...]
MONEY FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY (ME2) - Federal stimulus funding is available for whole-house energy retrofit programs. The City of Berkeley will be offering cash incentives to increase the energy efficiency of your home, apartment building or business. Funding is provided by the US Dept. of Energy and is available for all types of buildings and income levels! Energy retrofits help you save money, improve building comfort, safety and durability as well as reduce your carbon footprint! [more...]
LANDLORDS: AN IMPORTANT REMINDER - ANNUAL SECURITY DEPOSIT INTEREST REFUNDS MUST BE PAID BY JANUARY 10 - Attention: If the December interest refund payment is not made by January 10th, the tenant may recover interest at the rate of 10% by notifying the landlord in writing that the tenant intends to deduct the interest from a future rent payment. See Board Regulation 704. [more...]
RESEARCH REPORTS AVAILABLE ON-LINE - 2009 BERKELEY TENANTS SURVEY RESULTS and our ECONOMIC STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF RENT STABILIZATION AND VACANCY DECONTROL IN BERKELEY are available on our new Research Reports page. [more...]
QUARTERLY MEDIAN AND VACANCY REGISTRATION REPORTS - Quarterly median and vacancy registration summaries to the Rent Board Executive Director covering periods from the 1st Quarter 2002 through the current quarter are now available through the Research Reports page. [more...]
CHECK RENTAL UNIT STATUS AND RENT CEILING - Go to the Rent Ceiling Search page. Check your rental unit's reported current rent ceiling, registration status, and basic tenancy information and report inaccuracies to Rent Board staff. [more...]
BERKELEY LANDLORDS: RENT BOARD REMINDERS - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW - REMEMBER TO: [more...]
BERKELEY TENANTS: RENT BOARD REMINDERS - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW - REMEMBER THAT: [more...]