A new proposal in the City of San Jose could soon allow property owners to kick their lawless tenants to the curb.
On Wednesday, Councilmen Johnny Khamis and Tam Nguyen proposed the Crime-Free-Multi-Housing Program before the council’s Rules and Open Government Committee. If ultimately approved by the city council, landlords would be able to require their tenants to sign an agreement barring any arrest for a host of criminal activities as a condition of their tenancy.
The controversial plan would represent a first for any city in Santa Clara County. Similar programs have been adopted in the cities of Dublin, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, San Leandro and Richmond. According to Councilman Khamis, the result has been a 30 to 50 percent reduction in crime. But a study by the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law concluded that these types of ordinances can reduce the housing supply and displace victims, while discouraging people from reporting criminal activity.
Khamis says the new program wouldn’t represent a drastic change, as most rental agreements already include criminal activity as a cause for eviction. “The big difference is that we are going to enforce it,” he added.
But critics of the program aren’t buying it.
"The program itself gives a landlord the opportunity to evict someone for any crime, anywhere and it's not time-constricting," said Nadia Aziz, a senior attorney with the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley. "So if a grandson gets arrested for DUI, a grandma can be evicted from her home."
Sandy Perry of the Silicon Valley Renters Coalition called it “a police state type issue.”
City staff is expected to bring a draft ordinance before the council by early next year. In the meantime, officials are mulling a “just cause” clause to prevent wrongful evictions.
Read more about the proposal here.
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