Antioch Agrees to Create Rental Registry to Track Landlords

The Antioch City Council approved the creation of a rental registry in a 4-1 vote.

Under the item, it allows the city to begin collecting data on all residential landlords and rental units under the Rent Stabilization Ordinance within the Antioch Municipal Code.

This also foreshadows another item in the future where the city would recoup costs through a Rent Program Fee—meeting data to be determined and the cost is unknown. The council did not bring up for discussion the potential fee or how much it would cost per parcel or per unit. The staff report also failed to include number of rentals within the city of Antioch.

Rachel Hundley, Assistant City Attorney, presented the item saying this ordinance allows the city to administer a city-wide rental registry. She called it more beneficial and easier to apply this to all landlords.

Hundley explained currently they register for each of their properties and this adds that this will force them to add their units. She pointed out this was not a “rent registry” which tracks lease and rent amount of every rental unit which is typically subject to rent control.

“This is just rental units,” stated Hundley.

According to the staff report, Staff determined that it would be prudent to require registration of all residential rental units in the City rather than only those subject to the RSO. If the City Council adopts additional tenant protections, such as just cause eviction, those protections would likely apply to a wider scope of rental units. Registration of such additional units would aid in the administration of the additional protection policies. A Citywide program would also allow the registration component to be a requirement for a complete application rather than an opt-in system.

During public comments, two speakers supported a strong rent program supported by landlord fees. They encouraged them to include a rent board. They also called the registry as something that creates transparency while calling for it to include data on all rentals, not just apartments—noting 50% of rentals are single family homes and many corporate owned. They said this is important to know who is renting in the city. They called for data collection on city trends by gathering data on base rent, rent increase, evictions, utility costs, trash, parking. They called for the data to be made available to the public. They called for the data to be made available to the public. Lastly, they called for a plan on enforcement.

Gabby Rivas called the rent registry a valuable tool if the city collects the “real data” from landlords and for all rental units, not just apartments. She called the data collection of all rentals crucial.

“We hope the rental registry will not only track rents, but also serve as a tool to track evictions and notices served,” stated Rivas while noting many people self-evict and those numbers are not tracked. “It’s helpful to know who owns rental property in Antioch because we can’t hold them accountable if we don’t know who they are.”

After public comments, the council provided feedback.

Councilmember Lori Ogorchock made a quick motion to adopt the registry as suggest by staff. Mayro Pro Tem Tamisha Torres-Walker quickly seconded.

Councilmember Mike Barbanica asked for clarification.

He asked what information would be collected on the registry and how does it differ from what is in place with the business licenses.

Hundley responded that the business license registers the business information, but it doesn’t collect the number of units or amenities that are related to the unit, or tracking items with the unit from evictions to inspection violations or things like that.

“So you are really looking to pry into those landlords personal business? Is that the goal of this? Is that what you are telling me?” asked Barbanica.

Hundley responded no saying this would be registering these businesses that are within the city of Antioch at “a more customer level”.

The council voted 4-1 to approve the creation of the registry with Barbanica dissenting.

Previous Stories

• May 8, 2023: Antioch Set to Talk Tenant Protections, Budget and Attorney Hiring
• Aug 24, 2022: Antioch City Council Approves Rent Stabilization Ordinance