SACRAMENTO, California — Sacramento city councilmembers hoping to get a tenant anti-harassment ordinance on the agenda left City Hall disappointed Tuesday after failing to receive enough votes to move the item forward.
First introduced on April 4 by District 5 Councilmember Caity Maple, the 'Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance' (TAHO) aims to protect renters from landlord threats, intimidation and other unlawful activities.
"This ordinance would set forth that if a landlord, in bad faith, engages in one of the prohibited activities, the tenant can take legal action. This ordinance would include penalties and recovery of attorney’s fees," Maple wrote in her March 23 letter.
City leaders responded to the initial letter, advising Maple and city staff to examine existing tenant laws and resources in Sacramento before returning for further consideration.
Vice Mayor Eric Guerra said he feared creating duplicate services, thus potentially wasting money.
Sacramento city tenant programs include the Rental Housing Inspection Program and the Tenant Protection Program, but councilmember Katie Valenzuela said none of the existing tenant protection programs directly address harassment and retaliation from landlords.
Though many city, state and federal laws exist that grant tenant rights, advocates say renters face barriers in asserting their rights.
"Not everyone can afford a costly legal battle," Valenzuela said Tuesday.
Growing anti-tenant harassment laws
Barriers in asserting rights include overwhelmed community legal services, lack of knowledge over tenant rights, fear of eviction or other retaliation, and more.
Maple said the ordinance was modeled after similar legislation in cities like Richmond. According to Richmond's tenant anti-harassment ordinance passed in 2021, landlords nor their employees can do the following:
- Failing to provide housing or threatening to terminate housing as required by the rental agreement or local housing laws
- Failing to do repairs or threatening to failing repairs and pursuing eviction
- Entering rental unit or photographing the unit beyond the scope of a lawful entry or inspection
- Removal of personal property from the rental unit without prior written consent of the tenant (except when done under Civil Code section 1980).
- Attempting to coerce a tenant to leave the property with offers of payments
- Refusing to accept or acknowledge receipt of a tenant's lawful rent payment
Cities with similar ordinances include Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco, Santa Monica, West Hollywood and East Palo Alto.
Legal Services of Northern California (LSNC) is one of the only free assistance programs offering low income Sacramento residents with housing and landlord dispute legal services.
LSNC managing attorney Sarah R. Ropelato sent a letter to Maples' office Thursday praising the proposed city ordinance as an important tool for tenants to enforce their rights.
"In Sacramento County, over 200,000 residents are eligible for our services and the Sacramento County office presently has only three attorneys. Even when fully staffed, at most, we have 10 attorneys," Ropelato said.
Organizations supporting the TAHO include Sacramento LGBT Community Center, Sacramento Central Labor Council AFL-CIO and more.
"The reality on the ground is that our under-resourced communities are experiencing harassment with little recourse, and a strong Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance creates a framework to protect them," Maple said.
