Palo Alto Bans Short-Term Rent Gouging

On its third try, the Palo Alto City Council passed an urgency measure on Monday, Dec. 9, authored by council members Tom DuBois and Lydia Kou, prohibiting landlords from evicting tenants without just cause.

The law will remain in effect until Dec. 31, after which it will be made obsolete when Assembly Bill 1482 will go into effect, making evictions without just cause illegal throughout the state. AB 1482 was authored by Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San Francisco).

According to Palo Alto Online’s Gennady Sheyner, DuBois and Kou sent a memo to their council colleagues reporting that “since Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill on Oct. 8, there has been a ‘surge of calls and inquiries from community advocates and tenants facing steep rent increases,’ some as much as 30 percent.” 

Read "With clock ticking, urgency law to protect Palo Alto renters wins approval" on Palo Alto Online.