Rental housing staff report more complex petitions though annual volume returned to earlier levels

Staff provided the Rental Housing Committee an annual update on the rent-stabilization petition program, saying the number of petitions has become more complex even though overall filings returned to pre-outlier levels. "Since the start of the program, in 2017 through the end of this past year, a total of 291 petitions were filed," a staff member said during the Sept. meeting. The update covered petitions related to the CSFRA and the MHRSO, case outcomes, appeals and operational pressures on staff and hearing officers.

The presentation said tenants filed 270 of the 291 petitions and landlords filed 21. For landlord-initiated petitions, staff said 15 entered the formal hearing process and six were withdrawn or not accepted; of the 15 that went to hearing, staff said 13 were resolved in the landlord’s favor or by settlement and three were appealed. For tenant petitions, staff said 190 have been completed through hearing or settlement and that "95% of those received judgments in favor of the tenant or reached a settlement agreement."

Staff told the committee that fiscal year 2024–25 showed a return toward levels seen in 2022–23 after 2023–24 proved an outlier in counts, but that complexity is increasing: 34 of 50 petitions filed in the past year contained multiple issues (for example, unlawful rent and habitability claims) and 17 of 50 required interpretation or translation services. Staff also reported 613 inquiries about tenant-initiated petitions during the fiscal year and noted that 100% of properties with more than 20 units submitted required information within the deadline; staff said those 215 properties represent 31.6% of properties and 76.6% of units in the program.

On the MHRSO (the rental program referenced in the presentation as MHRSO), staff said the office has received one petition since that program began in February 2021 and that petition was not accepted because it was a tenant hardship filed in a situation staff said allowed hardship petitions only for banked increases or landlord-initiated petitions. Staff also reported 15 exemption petitions and nine decision-compliance petitions filed since 2017; decision-compliance petitions, the staff said, help follow through on prior hearing awards.

Committee members pressed for clarification on appeals and on whether filing a petition could expose tenants to immigration-related consequences. When asked whether appeals were typically filed by landlords, staff said, "I don't have the exact numbers, but from what I remember in general is most appeals were filed by the landlords themselves." Vice Chair Cox asked about earlier incidents referenced in written materials where immigration retaliation had occurred and asked, "Is that really true?" Staff answered that, in prior cases, the notification to immigration was made by property managers or landlords and advised that legal-service referrals are available to tenants.

As for operations, staff said they issued a request for qualifications to recruit additional hearing officers and plan to return to the committee with a recommendation to reexamine hearing-officer compensation. "We definitely put an RFQ out for more hearing officers, and we also wanna bring back to the rental housing committee the reenumeration for the hearing officers," staff said, and added they hope to bring the compensation discussion to the committee sooner than next year to aid recruitment.

The committee did not take formal action on the presentation; staff closed by inviting questions and committee members offered no motions or votes on policy changes during the item.

Less-critical details: staff said 44 petitions were filed in the most recent fiscal year, of which 21 were completed and 14 remained in process at year end; three of the recent filings were appealed (one decided on appeal and two remanded to the hearing officer). Staff also described the second phase of a utility-adjustment petition process, which is now accepting petitions from units with five to 20 units.

The presentation and committee questions will inform planned staffing and outreach changes; staff indicated next steps include recruiting additional hearing officers and returning to the committee with a pay recommendation for those officers.