Rent increases are moderating in the Bay Area, but the rent control movement is not.

Encouraged by some success at the ballot box in November, grassroots efforts to limit rent increases and evictions are spreading to more cities, from San Jose to Santa Rosa.

After a contentious meeting last week, the Pacifica City Council voted 3-2 to approve a temporary rent- and eviction-control ordinance, even though about two-thirds of the 70 people who spoke over the course of nearly four hours opposed it.

Opponents said it was unfair to force landlords to bear the cost of the region’s housing shortage and faulted the city for not creating more affordable housing. Some noted that rent control protects rich tenants as well as poor ones. Many said they were mom-and-pop landlords who invested in rental property for retirement income.

Proponents, including many homeowners, said they hated to see teachers, firefighters and other neighbors forced out because they could no longer afford rent. There were few tenants at the meeting because “there are no renter protections. People are afraid of getting evicted” for speaking out, said Thursday Roberts, campaign manager for Fair Rents 4 Pacifica, which is pushing for rent control.

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In Santa Rosa, residents will vote on a broad rent- and eviction-control measure June 6.

Union City does not regulate rents, but this month it approved an eviction-control ordinance that will limit evictions to certain so-called just causes allowed by law such as failure to pay rent, lease violations, illegal activity on the premises or the landlord taking the unit off the rental market under the state’s Ellis Act.

After a marathon meeting Tuesday night, the San Jose City Council voted 6-5 to direct staff to draft an ordinance that would limit evictions to just causes. The proposed ordinance would apply to all rental units, including single-family homes. The council also adopted an ordinance governing Ellis Act evictions. San Jose already limits annual rent increases to 5 percent on apartment buildings with three or more units built before Sept. 7, 1979.

In the mother of all attempts to expand rent control statewide, a trio of Assembly members from high-rent districts including San Francisco and Oakland introduced a bill in February to overturn the landmark Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act.

That 1995 law puts limits on local rent-control ordinances statewide. It exempts multifamily apartments built after Feb. 1, 1995 — and all single-family homes and condos, regardless of age — from limits on rent increases. When tenants voluntarily vacate a rent-controlled unit, landlords can raise the rent to market rates, although future increases are once again limited as long as tenancy is maintained. The law lets cities limit evictions to just causes on all rentals, including single-family homes, regardless of age.

After fierce opposition from the landlord and real estate lobbies, the authors put the bill on hold until next year.

In November, voters approved rent- and eviction-control measures in Richmond and Mountain View but defeated them in San Mateo and Burlingame. In Alameda, voters rejected rent control but approved a landlord-tenant mediation program.

The California Apartment Association, which represents landlords, has filed lawsuits to overturn the Mountain View and Richmond measures. Judges denied its attempts to have them temporarily halted. The association expects a full hearing on the Richmond measure on May 24.

After double-digit increases in 2014 and 2015, Bay Area rents moderated in 2016 and even fell in some cities, including San Francisco. However, they began ticking up again in February and March. It’s possible that landlords fearful of rent control coming to their cities are pushing up rents while they can.

Amy Tucker said her landlord increased the rent on her one-bedroom Pacifica apartment in April by $100 a month, to $2,025. Tucker said she considered that increase “completely doable” and even bought a new car on Saturday. However, on Saturday night, her landlord notified her that he is raising the rent another $200, effective 60 days later.

The second increase was “absolutely” a result of the Pacifica City Council decision April 10, said her landlord, Steve McMichael. “I like my tenants below market. They were and still are. The thing is, having that moratorium basically forced my hand. I had to bring it up before the moratorium goes into effect.”

The interim rent-control ordinance will take effect May 24, assuming it is adopted after a second reading April 24. Although some rent-control measures rolled back rents to a previous date, the Pacifica ordinance does not.

Any increase, or notification of an increase, before May 24 would not be affected by the proposed interim ordinance. If adopted, starting May 24 landlords could not raise rents more than 3.4 percent on buildings with three or more units built before 1995. The ordinance also restricts evictions on those units to just causes.

On May 8, the Pacifica council is scheduled to decide whether to put rent and eviction control on the Nov. 7 ballot. If the council does and voters approve it, that will replace the interim measure. The ballot measure, as drafted, would limit rent increases to the consumer price index, although landlords could petition for a larger increase to cover improvements. The city would collect $19 per unit per month to administer rent control; landlords could pass this cost on to tenants.

If the measure does not go on the ballot, the interim measure will expire Sept. 1.

Tucker, who moved to Pacifica in 2014 from a rent-controlled San Francisco apartment, is not sure how she would vote on a rent-control measure. Her landlord, who owns a construction company, “does a really good job maintaining” her building, which is three buildings from the ocean. “He has to touch up the paint (from nails rusting) every few months,” Tucker said. She’s not sure whether the proposed rent increases would cover his tax increases and maintenance costs.

“I don’t think rent-control legislation should limit a good landlord from being a good landlord. It should only limit the bad ones from being bad. I don’t know how they can write the law to make that happen,” she said.

Neither does anyone else.

Kathleen Pender is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: kpender@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kathpender

California cities with rent control

Berkeley

Beverly Hills

East Palo Alto

Hayward

Los Angeles

Los Gatos

Mountain View

Oakland

Palm Springs

Richmond

San Francisco

San Jose

Santa Monica

Thousand Oaks

West Hollywood