Fwd: Property Management in Fremont and San Leandro

Government Affairs Action for the Week of September 17, 2017

by David Stark, Public Affairs Director, Bay East Association of REALTORS®

Property Management in Fremont and San Leandro

New rules are coming to Fremont and San Leandro that will directly impact property managers:

Fremont: This week the Fremont City Council took the first step towards expanding its current Residential Rent Increase Dispute Resolution Ordinance (RRIDRO).

The new "Rent Review Ordinance" will create new dispute mediation resources and establish a Rent Review Board. Tenants could access these resources if their rent is increased by more than 5 percent during a 12-month period. The ordinance will apply to all rental properties including single family detached homes and condominiums.

San Leandro: The San Lenadro City Council has approved a tenant relocation ordinance which requires property owners to provide up to $7,000 in relocation assistance. Tenants would be eligible to receive the relocation payment if their rent is increased more than 12 percent during a 12-month period and the tenant ends their lease. A property owner ending a tenant's lease when selling the property also will trigger the relocation payment.

The ordinance takes effect in Mid-October. For more information, please contact Thomas Liao, Deputy Community Development Director, at: tliao@sanleandro.org

Government is so Messed Up - it costs less to have things run separately

from CAR

Department of Real Estate Restoration Bill Moves Forward

The effort to reestablish the Department of Real Estate moved forward last week as C.A.R.-sponsored SB 173 (Dodd) has passed the legislature.

In 2012, the Brown Administration made changes to the state's organizational structure in an effort to streamline government practices. These changes included moving the Department of Real Estate to the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency (BCSH) to function under the Department of Consumer Affairs as a Bureau. SB 173 would return CalBRE to its standing as the Department of Real Estate within BCSH.

Despite the Administration's intention to save the state money and improve operational efficiencies; under the Department of Consumer Affairs, the cost to operate the CalBRE has increased. $3.5 million of CalBRE's budget is diverted through a "pro-rata assessment" (administrative overhead) to the Department of Consumer Affairs. It is estimated that by returning BRE to its former status as a department, the Bureau would save about $3.5 million, all collected through fees paid by licensees. This "pro-rata assessment" is essentially a subsidy of licensees' fees to the DCA. SB 173 passed the legislature with unanimous floor votes in both houses and has been sent to the Governor for signature.

Sunil Sethi / REALTOR, Broker, MBA, CPA(inactive), GREEN

Sunil Sethi Real Estate
38750 Paseo Padre Pkwy #B3, Fremont, CA 94536
www.sunilsethi.com
BRE #01173766

Let's see if this lowers HOA Document Costs

from CAR

HOA Disclosures – CAR Sponsored Law
This new law holds down the costs that an HOA may charge a seller for the HOA documents by requiring a clear statement on the billing form (C.A.R. Form HOA2) that the seller is not required to purchase all of the listed documents, but may provide the buyer, at no cost, current copies of any of the disclosures that the seller already has in their possession. Moreover, the annual budget report must individually identify the cost of each separate disclosure document on the billing form thereby giving advance notice of and transparency to these fees.

HOA managers must disclose to the HOA whether they receive a referral fee or other benefit from a third party who provides disclosure documents, and must provide a written acknowledgement that the disclosure documents are the property of the association and not those of the manager or the manager's firm. Effective January 1, 2017.

Sunil Sethi / REALTOR, Broker, MBA, CPA(inactive), GREEN
Sunil Sethi Real Estate

38750 Paseo Padre Pkwy #B3, Fremont, CA 94536
www.sunilsethi.com
BRE #01173766

Union City Instituting Fees for Landlords

If you are a landlord in Union City, pay attention to this new fee and restrictions put in place by the city

Rent Review Ordinance - Effective 10/2/17

On June 27, 2017, the City Council of Union City approved an ordinance that adds Chapter 5.55 "Rent Review" to the City's municipal code. The ordinance regulates most residential rental units in Union City and provides a mediation process for qualifying rent increases. Renters will have the right to request non-binding mediation when:

A renter receives a rent increases over 7%; OR
A renter receives two or more rent increases in a 12 month period and the total of all rent increases exceeds 7% in the 12 month period

Landlord participation in the mediation process is mandatory; however, all recommendations are non-binding. Landlords are required to notify tenants of their rights when issuing a rent increase on or after October 2, 2017.

The full ordinance and additional information can be found at the following link:
www.unioncity.org/rent-requirements

Rent Review Informational Meetings

The City will be holding two informational meetings on the Rent Review Ordinance that are open to the public. Both meetings will cover the same information.

DATES/TIMES
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
7:00 to 8:00 PM

Thursday, November 16, 2017
10:30 to 11:30 AM

LOCATION
City Council Chambers
34009 Alvarado-Niles Road
Union City, CA 94587

RSVP
Housing@UnionCity.org

New Rental Property Fees

On September 12th, the City Council adopted two new residential rental property fees. The fees will be used to cover the City's cost to administer the recently adopted Rent Review and Eviction Protection Ordinances.

Effective November 1, 2017, all property owners with rental units in Union City that are subject to the Eviction Protection Ordinance and/or the Rent Review Ordinance must pay the annual fees listed below. The fees are due at the time a property owner applies for a new residential rental business license or renews an existing business license.

Rent Review Ordinance Fee - $21.50 per rental unit
Eviction Protection Ordinance Fee - $10 per rental unit

For questions regarding the business license application/renewal process, please contact the City's Revenue Division.

Contact Information

Rent Review Program Administrator
ECHO Housing
Phone: 1-855-ASK-ECHO / 1-855-275-3246
Email: UnionCityRentReview@EchoFairHousing.org
Website: www.echofairhousing.org

City of Union City - Housing & Community Development Division
Alin Lancaster, Housing & Community Development Coordinator
Phone: (510) 675-5322
Email: Housing@UnionCity.org
Website: www.unioncity.org/rent-requirements

City of Union City - Revenue Division
Phone: (510) 675-5312
Fax: (510) 489-5074
Email: Biz-License@UnionCity.Org
Website: www.unioncity.org/departments/administrative-services/business-licenses

August 2017 Alameda County Housing Inventory Snapshot

I hope you will find the following snapshot of local Real Estate inventory interesting. The table represents aggregated values based on MLS data for the specified date.

Housing Inventory Snapshot		August 31, 2017
	Average List Price	30 Days Trend	Median List Price	30 Days Trend	Average DOM: active/sold	30 Days Trend	Number of Listings
Alameda County, CA
Single Family under $1M	$687,208	-2.66%	$699,000	-0.14%	29	0	636
Single Family over $1M	$1,796,776	-2.37%	$1,450,000	3.03%	46	-4	321
Condo/Townhome under $600K	$461,449	-3.07%	$459,000	-6.33%	24	1	151
Condo/Townhome over $600K	$777,209	2.15%	$749,000	2.62%	37	7	120
San Mateo County, CA
Single Family under $1M	$853,298	3.63%	$859,000	7.38%	26 / 13	-2 / 3	83
Single Family over $1M	$4,736,046	4.37%	$2,484,000	8.57%	62 / 28	-14 / 4	303
Condo/Townhome under $600K	$483,817	1.61%	$490,000	2.30%	41 / 21	-2 / 7	22
Condo/Townhome over $600K	$1,019,029	-8.17%	$879,000	-11.12%	28 / 16	0 / -7	77
Santa Clara County, CA
Single Family under $1M	$838,934	2.56%	$879,000	4.77%	34 / 16	5 / 4	230
Single Family over $1M	$2,916,903	7.07%	$1,998,000	5.27%	58 / 18	2 / 2	532
Condo/Townhome under $600K	$471,873	-2.89%	$465,000	-3.93%	18 / 19	-8 / 6	57
Condo/Townhome over $600K	$1,014,140	8.55%	$895,000	12.16%	24 / 14	4 / 2	110
Santa Cruz County, CA
Single Family under $1M	$731,240	1.97%	$765,000	6.99%	47 / 17	4 / 3	188
Single Family over $1M	$2,047,196	-1.61%	$1,499,000	0.27%	87 / 61	10 / 37	180
Condo/Townhome under $600K	$449,908	3.94%	$475,000	0.00%	48 / 15	-7 / -21	33
Condo/Townhome over $600K	$840,541	-1.60%	$750,000	-0.65%	117 / 34	16 / 15	40

If you know someone who is considering buying or selling a home, please give me a call. I will provide professional & courteous service along with knowledgeable guidance through the process.

Sunil Sethi / REALTOR, Broker, MBA, CPA(inactive), GREEN

Sunil Sethi Real Estate
38750 Paseo Padre Pkwy #B3, Fremont, CA 94536
www.sunilsethi.com
BRE #01173766