Oakland's Just Cause ordinance protects tenants from bankers, realtors, and landlords

Oakland's Just Cause ordinance protects tenants from bankers, realtors and greedy landlords

By Lynda Carson March 23, 2009

Through the years, the struggle to bring Oakland's Just Cause eviction protections into existence and defend it from greedy landlords, bankers and realtors has been a challenge worth fighting over, to protect Oakland's renters who are trying to keep a roof over their heads.

With-out the Just Cause eviction protections lawfully being there as a tool to be used to protect Oakland's families from the excessive greed of landlords, bankers and realtors, there would be little in the way to stop the brutal exploitation of the working class and poor by the greedy capitalists who would evict their own mothers to make a profit.

On March 11, the Oakland City Attorney's office announced that it has filed five lawsuits during the month of March against some major banks and local real-estate brokers for violating Oakland's Just Cause eviction protection ordinance. The banks involved include JP Morgan Chase, Fidelity National Financial and their subsidiaries, and the brokers involved in the suits include Keller Williams, Session Real Estate, and Smart Choice Realty.

A prepared statement from the City Attorney's office says, "Despite repeated warnings, banks and their agents have continued to violate local law by sending illegal eviction notices to good tenants in foreclosed buildings. Eviction notices are often accompanied by cash-for-keys offers that do not come close to covering normal moving costs."

"Many tenants who receive these notices are families who have never been late on their rent and are protected from eviction by Oaklands Just Cause ordinance, City Attorney Russo said. These evictions are not only illegal, they are inhumane and can cause extraordinary hardship for families in Oakland."

"In recent days, Oakland filed lawsuits against both JPMorgan Chase and Fidelity National Financial, along with their subsidiary companies and the local agents who are paid to remove tenants from properties the banks have acquired through foreclosure. Oakland also filed complaints against several local real estate companies and brokers who have sent wrongful eviction notices to tenants following foreclosure."

In addition, as recent as March 3, City Attorney John Russo announced that Oakland has prevailed in a 6-year lawsuit filed by landlords seeking to overturn Oakland’s tenant protection laws, being the Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance that was under attack, and tenants and activists across the state celebrated because the court victory over Just Cause upheld eviction protections throughout the state of California.

History of Just Cause Eviction Protections in Oakland

It was on June 10, 2002 during record-breaking heat that more than 100 anti-eviction activists and supporters from 20 different groups around the Bay Area showed up at the Oakland City Hall to turn in over 36,000 signatures collected for an anti-eviction measure. At that moment the joy and excitement of the crowd echoed inside the walls of City Hall, as activists shouted out "JUST CAUSE" while box after box of signatures were safely delivered to be inspected by election officials.

It took more than 300 volunteers to fulfill the goals of the petition drive for the initiative, and during early February of 2002, volunteers started collecting the signatures for the Just Cause eviction protection ordinance that still protects Oakland renters till this very day.

Others who were part of the "Just Cause" organizing drive included BOSS, ACORN, Mission Housing, PUEBLO, Oakland Tenants Union, Campaign for Renters Rights, California Tomorrow, and many other groups who became creative in their efforts to support the Just Cause initiative. Some played large roles and others smaller, but all joined together in the massive effort to collect signatures, raise funds, and find more volunteers for the cause.

Teams of people from the Campaign for Renters Rights took turns on the weekends collecting signatures, and eventually took to the streets with Sue Doyle and John Reimann using a bullhorn to call out renters from their buildings to sign the petitions. Others met at ACORN on weekends and one night during the week for teams of people to be assigned to BART stations, local events, grocery stores and other places where people would be found in large numbers. It was a huge campaign to stop the mass evictions taking place in Oakland by greedy landlords at that time. The powerful landlords and all of their money could not stop the peoples movement to protect Oakland's renters.

During September and October of 2002, evictions were on the rise before the Just Cause ordinance became the law of the land in Oakland, with a new eviction case occurring every 10 minutes in the courts. More than 65% of evictions were against people of color, and for those who were fighting against the evictions in court, each case averaged out to around ten minutes per hearing.

Even with Just Cause eviction protections in place since 2002, there have been over 4,000 home foreclosures in Oakland since early 2007, and according to Anne Omura, executive director of the Eviction Defense Center, home foreclosures are currently the leading cause of evictions in Oakland.

In a release on March 3, 2008 from Oakland's City Attorney John Russo about the recent court ruling victory that saved "Just Cause" eviction protections from the landlords lawsuit against tenant protections, “Oakland has been hit with waves of illegal evictions as a result of the foreclosure crisis,” City Attorney Russo said. “Some banks and their agents have routinely violated the law by evicting good tenants from foreclosed apartments and homes without cause.”

“In these economic times, illegal evictions create serious hardships for families across Oakland,” Russo said. “This victory is especially important because it upholds the right of tenants – and the City – to go after the bad actors who are breaking the law and putting Oakland families on the street,” Russo said.

According to Russo, Oakland’s Just Cause ordinance, approved by voters and enacted in 2002, protects renters by requiring landlords to have a specific “just cause” for evicting a tenant. Causes include non-payment of rent, violation of the rental agreement, illegal or nuisance activity or a move-in by the property owner. The law also requires landlords to notify tenants of violations before they start the eviction process.

The Just Cause eviction protections exist to protect Oakland's renters and tenants throughout the state of California. Lets all be thankful to those who are in the struggle to protect and defend tenant's rights during these tough economic times, against those that threaten all of us with hunger and homelessness in their bid to make an unfair profit.

For help with eviction notices, Contact:

East Bay Community Law Center
(510) 548-4040

Centro Legal De La Raza
(510) 437-1554

Eviction Defense Center
(510) 452-4541

Bay Area Legal Aid
(510) 250-5270

For help with unlawful rent increase or decrease in services, Contact:
Oakland Residential Rent Adjustment Program
(510) 238-3721

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com