The Berkeley Tenants Union, a nonprofit of about 70 tenants throughout Berkeley, is filing a complaint against a landlord group over its initiative practices and campaign funding.
According to a statement released Monday, the union is bringing its complaints to Berkeley’s Fair Campaign Practices Commission and California’s Fair Political Practices Commission against the Berkeley Property Owners Association, BPOA.
The BPOA was behind a petition drive for initiative Measure CC, which appeared on the Nov. 5 ballot but failed to pass with only 34.8%. Voters chose an alternative ballot initiative, Measure BB, which was written by members of the Berkeley City Council, with input from the Berkeley Rent Board. Measure BB passed with 55.7%.
Tenant’s union spokesperson Matthew Lewis alleged that BPOA violated campaign finance laws by trying to hide donations they received from the National Association of Realtors by disclosing them late and by not revealing sponsors.
“The passage of Measure BB and defeat of Measure CC came despite numerous despicable and often outright illegal tactics by BPOA and the realtors. This included tricking voters into believing Measure CC was a pro-rent control measure,” the union’s statement said.
Lewis said the union also intends to reach out to the offices of the District Attorney and California Attorney General to prosecute the BPOA, the National Association of Realtors, and their PAC for alleged violations of campaign finance laws.
Krista Gulbransen, executive director of the BPOA, said in an email Monday that the accusations made by the Berkeley Tenants Union were false.
“The passage of Measure BB and defeat of Measure CC came despite numerous despicable and often outright illegal tactics by BPOA and the realtors. This included tricking voters into believing Measure CC was a pro-rent control measure.”
Berkeley Tenants Union
“The continued narrative that all Berkeley landlords are ‘slumlords’ is harmful and insulting to the many good relationships that Berkeley tenants have with rental property owners. It would behoove the Tenants Union to cease their vitriolic hatred and stay focused on the future of rental housing. At this point, they are only embarrassing themselves,” said Gulbransen. “Additionally, the Berkeley Property Owners Association has never been named as a defendant in any lawsuit related to price gouging. Yet the Berkeley Tenants Union continues to spread false rumors about BPOA’s involvement in the Department of Justice case against RealPage.”
RealPage is a software that landlords can use to set rents or manage home occupancy levels in the city. It uses artificial intelligence and shares data between property owners. Such algorithmic devices have been restricted in San Francisco and other cities.
Measure CC would have removed the Rent Board’s ability to intervene as an interested party in litigation and modify the board’s powers and duties by requiring a city audit every three years. It would have also removed the monthly stipend commissioners receive, while retaining their health benefits.
The successful ballot Measure BB slightly modifies previous renter protections to meet the city’s rental housing transformation from small buildings to large-scale apartments.
“Most students are living now in corporately owned buildings, ginormous conglomerates with no human face, where they force you to pay through an app,” said Leah Simon-Weisberg, Chair of Berkeley’s Rent Board. “If you need a repair, you can’t talk to anybody.”
There will be three main changes brought by Measure BB. Tenants will now have the right to form a tenant’s association if they represent at least 50% of the occupied rental units. The maximum annual rent increase will be decreased from 7% to 5%. And nonprofit senior housing units are no longer exempt from allowing their tenants the right to organize.
“If the landlords are not responding to them, and doesn’t confer in good faith, all the tenants in the association can file for rent reductions,” said Simon-Weisberg. “So, your landlord actually has to interact with you. And then the rent board can reduce their rent.”
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