Oakland Mayor Schaaf moves to protect tenants

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf is endorsing an ordinance by one of her foes in an attempt to aid tenants. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf is endorsing an ordinance by one of her foes in an attempt to aid tenants. Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Oakland Mayor Schaaf moves to protect tenants 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf — facing mounting pressure to beef up building safety and shield warehouse artists from eviction — took the unusual step Wednesday of endorsing a measure by one of her political foes.

The measure by city Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan would strengthen tenant protections by nearly doubling the relocation fee property owners must pay residential occupants they evict on grounds that they must repair code violations.

The proposed ordinance is especially timely as property owners have been evicting tenants from non-permitted housing and live-work spaces in the wake of the Dec. 2 Ghost Ship fire, which killed 36 people at a music event in a non-permitted warehouse. Schaaf urged the City Council to approve the measure during a special hearing on Tuesday.

“This is intended to protect the many vulnerable communities that live in Oakland, and that live in fear because of this unprecedented affordability crisis,” Schaaf told The Chronicle. She said she wants the new law to benefit many people — not just the artists who have garnered attention after the Ghost Ship fire, but also other struggling populations, including undocumented immigrants and low-income families living on the margins of a booming city, in storage sheds or garages that have been illegally turned into homes.

Relocation fees apply to residents of nonpermitted housing as well as to people living in legal spaces that have been poorly maintained. The current fees are $3,446 for a one-bedroom and $4,346 for a two-bedroom, plus $200 for move-in costs. The proposed ordinance would raise payments to $6,500 for a studio or one-bedroom unit, and $8,000 for a two-bedroom unit. Tenants evicted from a three-bedroom unit could be entitled to $9,875 under Kaplan’s proposal — significantly more than the current payment of $6,034.

These new rates would match the payments that the City Council approved last year for Ellis Act evictions, which prompted strong objections from property owners, who said they were being unfairly penalized.

Kaplan ran against Schaaf in the 2014 mayoral race and frequently butts heads with the mayor.

But in this instance, she welcomed the mayor’s support. Her law, she said, is mostly aimed at landlords who knowingly keep a rental unit in disrepair, and then use the code violations as an excuse to boot out their tenants once the real estate market picks up.

“Code compliance has been used as an excuse to oust tenants so that the property owner can renovate the building and then rent it out to people with a higher income,” Kaplan said. “And then sometimes the people who get ousted don’t get relocation payments at all, or under the current law, they don’t get enough money to move in this economy.”

The new law would not apply to everybody. Oakland cannot compel a landlord to pay a relocation fee to tenants who create code violations themselves.

If a master lessee illegally converts the building and then rents it out to others, as was the case at the Ghost Ship, then that tenant would likely be held liable for relocation payments, Kaplan said. But those situations would probably be decided in “case-by-case hearings.”

Schaaf threw her support behind the ordinance as she rolled out an executive order to achieve two pressing political goals: to ensure warehouse safety, but avoid displacing tenants at all costs.

Her executive order relies on existing laws and calls for property owners to enter an “abatement and compliance plan” with the city within 60 days after a building official or fire marshal cites the property for permit or zoning violations. Schaaf urges building owners to cure those violations without giving tenants the boot.

Meeting with reporters Wednesday, the mayor stressed the importance of protecting Oakland’s warehouse community, which she has long touted as a “cultural asset.”

Kaplan said she wants the new protections to cover a wide demographic in Oakland. She said she began crafting the ordinance well before the Ghost Ship fire shocked and roiled Oakland.

“My ordinance will be helpful to the artist community,” Kaplan said. “But it applies to a whole range of people who are low-income. Maybe they live without electricity or working plumbing, and then someone discovers they live without electricity or working plumbing. They shouldn’t just be put on the street.”

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @rachelswan