Welcome

A LETTER FROM EBRHA CEO DEREK BARNES

eing an essential resource to the housing community is EBRHA’s top priority, and we constantly look for ways to help our members and the communities we serve provide safe and affordable homes to many people across Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Beyond delivering one-on-one member support services and community assistance as a non-profit trade association, EBRHA curates education, information, forms, and technologies that help our community of rental housing providers remain connected and stay ahead. Offering a wide array of services also helps members remain competitive and compliant with state and local laws.

Staying a step ahead allows rental owners and managers to seize new market opportunities, prepare for impending business threats, and begin implementing practical solutions to mitigate risks. As we’ve all seen in the last several years, threats to our industry come in many forms: a pandemic, economic and geo-political headwinds, new housing policy and legislation, and the election of candidates who are not pro-business or pro-housing. It’s a voluminous cloud that housing providers must constantly navigate around.

The association also advocates at the state and local levels, which is critical to members and the housing community. This requires EBRHA members to be engaged too – calling and writing elected officials, and showing up at rallies and legislative meetings to provide public comments. Our members were called to action multiple times this year. They fully engaged in advocacy efforts and partnered with other organizations to make significant policy changes happen. We coalesced a unified voice, political influence, and power to affect change by ending three-year eviction moratoriums (Alameda County, Berkeley, Oakland, and San Leandro), staving off bad housing policy, and creating programs to help small rental property owners stabilize after eviction moratoriums end — foreclosure prevention,

Breopening emergency rental assistance, and legal representation programs.

For many property owners who were able to weather the storm, it feels like we’re finally emerging from the haze of a tumultuous three years, but not without fallout and significant damage to housing markets. The impact of municipalities’ budget deficits and lingering high inflation have been exacerbated by the following:

• Increasing unpaid household rent debt (hundreds of millions of dollars across Alameda County)

• Surging rental property defaults and foreclosures

• Declining property values and tax revenues

• Exiting insurance companies in the California market driving up premiums and policy cancellations

• Rising crime and public safety issues

• Unresolved homeless and drug addiction crisis

Clearly, there’s much more work to be done. With some recent successes, a greater sense of hope is emerging as we prepare for the second half of 2023 – rolling into a 2024 election year with five (5) City Councilmember seats open in Oakland. We must remain vigilant, civically engaged, cautiously optimistic, and use all available tools as housing providers. This issue of RH Magazine provides many ideas and solutions to help members recover and thrive after eviction moratoriums end. What’s next is a profound question, and there are creative ways to avoid the eviction moratorium fallout.

For example, owners who have purchased their properties within the last five (5) years may consider petitioning the county for property tax reductions. The Alameda County Assessor, Phong La, has signaled support for property owners whose assets were devalued during the moratoriums due to nonpayment of rent or resident damages. Contact the County Assessor for more information.

For unpaid rent that was due during the eviction moratoriums, we continue encouraging EBRHA members to proactively work with renters to develop payment plans or pursue revenue recovery using the court system — small claims or superior. You should always seek legal counsel to determine the best options based on your circumstances. Throughout the summer, EBRHA will also hold legal and financial workshops to discuss rent recovery programs and the Unlawful Detainer process.

For business reasons, you may have decided not to pursue the collection of unpaid rent due to you or to “forgive” the debt because you know you’ll never recover the lost rental income. You may also consider sending renters a notice that you are preparing to file a Federal Form 1099-C for any unpaid rent that is owed to you that has not been paid (debt forgiveness) — especially for those renters who could pay but did not. Essentially, this “Cancellation of Debt” becomes a taxable event for the renter. Discuss this alternative with your accountant or tax advisor if you are not pursuing revenue recovery options.

Remember, serving “Pay or Quit” notices or evicting a renter for unpaid rent owed during eviction moratoriums is not lawful. EBRHA encourages sending monthly notices of any balances due for past periods and using EBRHA’s notification forms. Check out our quick Eviction Moratorium FAQ guide at www.ebrha.com

The last several years have tested our fortitude and made us more resilient as rental owners/operators. We’ve learned to embrace innovative ways of doing business, new technologies and techniques for doing more with less while remaining competitive in the market. Our community of housing providers kept people in their homes since 2020. For all these things and more, you deserve acknowledgment and deep gratitude from elected officials and municipal staff for all that you’ve done and will continue doing to provide safe, accessible and affordable homes for many residents in the East Bay. EBRHA is with you, by your side, as we continue doing this work together!

JUNE 1-30

PR I D E M O NTH

JUNE 6

3-4:30PM

Rent Registry "How To"

Presentation

Presented by Shani Brown

* JUNE 7-9

Apartmentalize

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

JUNE 8

2-3:30PM

Liability Protection –Before and After

Presented by Brad Barth, Steve Williams and Paul Hitchcock

JUNE 13

2-3:30PM

The Roundtable

Presented by EBRHA

President Wayne Rowland

JUNE 15

3-5:00PM

In-Person Unlawful Detainer Instructional

Presented by Randall Whitney

JUNE 20

3-4:30PM

Monthly Member Meeting

Presentation by Scott Freedman

JUNE 22

2-3:30PM

The Forum

Presented by Dan Lieberman

JUNE 22

5:30-7:30PM

In-Person

Networking Mixer

Location: EBRHA Office

JUNE 27

3-4:30PM

How to Advocate Locally for Rental Housing

Presentation by Lazandra Dial, EBRHA

Board Member

RPM 103

* JULY 4

4th of July Celebration

JULY 11

2-3:30PM

The Roundtable

Presented by EBRHA

President Wayne Rowland

JULY 18

3-4:30PM

Member Meeting

JULY 22

6:00PM

Member Appreciation Baseball Game

JULY 25

2-3:30PM

Real Estate Information Session

Presented by Bill Pegg and Steven Wilkinson

* NON-EBRHA EVENTS

If you would like to submit an event, please send an email to editor@ebrha.com .