Category: News

New ordinance targets landlords dubbed the “worst of the worst”

San Mateo, California — At its meeting on Tuesday, February 19, the City Council of San Mateo will consider adoption of an ordinance designed to ensure habitability of San Mateo apartments and to make provision for tenants who are forced to move as a result of extreme conditions threatening their health and safety. The idea for this ordinance was brought to the city by One San Mateo, a community group advocating for affordable housing solutions and a more fair and inclusive San Mateo.

HEART Homebuyer Workshop

Are you looking to buy your first home in San Mateo County? Join HEART and Meriwest Mortgage for a First-Time Homebuyer Workshop in Menlo Park on March 7! For more details and to register, please click here or view the attached flyer.
When:
Thursday
March 7, 2019
6:00 – 7:00pm
Where:
Menlo Park City Council Chambers
701 Laurel St., Menlo Park, CA 94025

San Mateo moves closer to relocation assistance for tenants displaced from substandard properties

In an effort to support at-risk tenants who find themselves in unsafe housing, San Mateo city officials are shaping an ordinance aimed at requiring landlords who don’t properly maintain their units to pay for the relocation costs of affected tenants.
Among the measures councilmembers considered at their Tuesday meeting was requiring landlords whose tenants are temporarily displaced by substandard living conditions to provide another unit or hotel room within a 10-mile radius. They also considered mandating those landlords whose tenants are permanently displaced provide them with three months of fair-market rent.

One San Mateo Meeting

When:
7 P.M. Wednesday
December 12
Where:
The Congregational Church of San Mateo
225 Tilton Ave. San Mateo
The next meeting of One San Mateo will take place this coming Wednesday, December 12 from 7 to 8:45 pm. We will meet in the upstairs library at the Congregational Church of San Mateo (CCSM), located at 225 Tilton Avenue.
We take an inventory of some of our ongoing work and set priorities for the new year.
All are welcome!

A moral issue

For residents like Gloria Moreno, how the statements could better capture the experience of low-income residents, renters and members of the Latino community as they struggle with the rising regional housing costs was top of mind. Noting many are forced to live in their cars or together with multiple families, Moreno emphasized the stress some community members feel in trying to make ends meet.
“I think this is more that just an affordable housing issue, this is a moral issue,” she said. “People are living in their cars, people can barely afford to live here.”