A California Senate bill that would have given renters a two-week grace period to pay past due rent before eviction won’t be moving forward.
Senate Bill 436 failed to pass out of the assembly last week. It's one of several renter protection measures that have failed to gain traction statewide, like last year's Proposition 33, which failed at the ballot box.
In Chico, 1 in 3 residents are severely rent burdened, according to a recent study by Harvard University.
That’s while North State renters as a whole face an especially volatile market due to multiple devastating wildfires — and not just from homes being destroyed, said Chico City Council Member Bryce Goldstein.
"A lot of people that I knew in Chico faced secondary displacement from people needing homes in Butte County who lost their houses moving into Chico [after wildfires]," Goldstein said.
Some housing owners used the fires as an excuse to raise prices, while other landlords had to move into their rental properties after they lost their personal housing.
“A lot of single family housing rentals aren’t covered by the Tenant Protection Act statewide. So the city could find opportunities to help further protect renters from eviction or price gouging especially to prepare for the fact that we’re going to continue having natural disasters.”— Bryce Goldstein, Chico City Council member
"Those impacts have continued to make it hard for renters in Butte County," she said.
Goldstein said some housing owners used the fires as an excuse to raise prices, while others had to move into their rental properties after they lost their personal housing.
"A lot of single family housing rentals aren't covered by the Tenant Protection Act statewide," Goldstein said. "So the city could find opportunities to help further protect renters from eviction or price gouging, especially to prepare for the fact that we're going to continue having natural disasters in Butte County."
Goldstein is also a member of the city's ad hoc committee on homelessness. She said protecting tenant's rights is a key strategy in fighting homelessness in Chico and thinks the committee could be a place to look into eviction protections.
"We're going to have to consider how the city can play a role in preventing homelessness," Goldstein said. "This could, in my opinion, involve looking at tenants rights."
NSPR reached out to all members of the Chico City Council for comment. Goldstein was the only council member who responded by deadline.
