City Council to discuss proposed policy forcing landlords to relocate tenants for some housing repairs

Broken toilets, fumigations and lead contamination: Emeryville rental property owners may soon be on the hook for relocation assistance if their housing isn’t up to par. 

On Tuesday, City Council will consider a new policy requiring landlords to provide temporary relocation assistance to residents if their rental becomes uninhabitable. 

“Without this program, tenants are literally falling into a trap,” said Councilmember Kalimah Priforce when introducing the proposed policy change in June 2025. The aim is to transform “a system that ensnares the vulnerable into one that catches them when they fall.” 

Currently, if an issue caused by a landlord requires a tenant to temporarily relocate, it’s the tenant’s job to cover the expenses: a situation many people can’t afford. Since 2017, Emeryville has required landlords to pay for relocation if tenants are forced to move permanently. The new policy would expand assistance to temporary relocations, adding protections for the 76% of Emeryville residents who rent. 

Priforce decided to introduce the Temporary Relocation Assistance Policy after tenants of the General Cable Building at 6221 Hollis Street sent a letter to him regarding intolerable living conditions in their units, according to the Emeryville Tattler. Wareham Development, a company that owns office space throughout Emeryville aside from the General Cable Building, had been demolishing part of the building in preparation for “Emerystation V,” a five-story research and development building with a 500-space parking garage. 

The demolition led to residents dealing with intolerable levels of lead in their apartments, a tenant told the Emeryville Tattler. While their rentals remained uninhabitable, residents still had to pay full rent and reportedly received no compensation. Priforce hopes the proposed policy change will help provide security to anyone caught in this limbo. 

The Emeryville Housing Committee has led the policy’s development and modeled it after programs in other cities, including Berkley and Oakland, each of which have had the policy for over nine years. 

TRAP would be triggered by five events: 

• Fumigation 
• Repair work that results in the loss of access to bathrooms or kitchens
• Substantial rehabilitation or modification of a unit
• A disability-related access barrier
• A red-tag or government order designating the unit as uninhabitable

It excludes cosmetic improvements and anything outside of the landlord’s control, such as a trigger event caused by the tenant or natural disaster. 

While this policy falls under tenant protections, Valerie Bernardo, Emeryville’s economic development and housing manager, said it’s made with landlords in mind too. 

“We’re trying to create something that gives tenants benefits,” said Bernardo, “but we don’t want to create a situation where now nobody wants to be a landlord in Emeryville.” 

‘It’s standard stuff’

Auguste Vende, a real estate broker for the property management company All East Bay Properties, said this week that he wasn’t aware Emeryville was considering the policy.

“It’s standard stuff, nothing shocking in any way,” he said in an interview. “It’s one more layer of work to be done. It makes the job of a landlord more complicated and a property management company like us more important.” 

Emeryville Today reached out to the California Apartment Association, a trade group representing owners and developers, but did not get an immediate response to emailed questions.

If triggered, TRAP will require landlords to provide monetary compensation for less than six days of relocation. For any time between six days to 29 days, the landlord would choose to provide either monetary compensation or comparable housing. 

Comparable housing can either be a hotel or Airbnb-type rental or a unit within the same residential complex, as long as the number of bedrooms and bathrooms is similar to the tenant’s unit. If moving and storage expenses or a pet are involved, landlords are required to reimburse the tenant for those expenses, payment that the Housing Committee is suggesting tenants receive up front. 

Comparable housing must be in a five-mile radius of Emeryville.

The tenant is required to continue to pay rent during this time period. Any time beyond that would qualify tenants for the Permanent Relocation Assistance Policy. The policy would be enforced by a nonprofit, similar to the Permanent Relocation Assistance Policy, which is currently enforced by ECHO Housing, a local housing counseling agency.

The amount paid out to tenants depends on whether the owner is a small or large landlord,  defined by the number of units owned. The Housing Committee is hoping to adjust these definitions to make bigger corporate entities that own any amount of units considered large landlords, requiring them to pay a larger sum to tenants. 

The Housing and Budget and Governance Committees will propose modifications and amendments to City Council Tuesday. Bernardo said drafting the municipal code might take another 30-60 days after approval. 

Additionally, the city plans to educate both tenants and landlords on the policy. Bernardo estimated the policy will be in effect sometime between April and July. 

“My applause to Valerie and everyone else, the housing committee, who’ve been taking charge of this,” said Priforce in an interview. “I’m hoping that it will be something that will make an impact on Emeryville for decades.” 

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Nellie Hannon Gateway complex on San Pablo Avenue offers a home and free meals for many who have gone without.