NEWS

April 17, 2025: Rent Board to Create Policy based on new City Wildfire Prevention Law.  Berkeley's new wildfire prevention policies include banning anything flammable within 5 feet of houses in very high fire risk zones.  Rent Board committees will identify potential impacts, such as changes to outdoor space or increased yard maintenance responsibilities, and clarify how these intersect with existing laws on housing services and landlord/tenant rights and responsibilities.

February 20, 2025: Rent Board Reaffirms its support for Berkeley's Sanctuary City Policies.  The resolution passed unanimously.  Here are links to information on immigrant rights in California related to housing.
State of California Civil Rights Department: https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2020/10/Immigration-Rights-Fact-Sheet_ENG.pdf
Asian Law Caucus: https://www.asianlawcaucus.org/news-resources/guides-reports/immigrant-tenants-rights 

February 10, 2025: Rent Board Outreach Committee Meeting
Agenda items include: Measure BB outreach, language accessibility guide, and tenant survey data metrics.
Agenda at https://rentboard.berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/legislative-body-meeting-agendas/2025%20February%2010_Outreach%20Committee%20Agenda_PACKET.pdf

January 1, 2025: New State Laws Take Effect
New laws affecting the renting of housing signed by the Governor in 2024 take effect on January 1, 2025. A summary of some of these laws can be found here.

December 20, 2024: Berkeley Measure BB Now in Effect
Please visit https://rentboard.berkeleyca.gov/laws-regulations/measure-bb-changes-berkeleys-rent-ordinance for the list of changes to the Rent Ordinance.

For details on the Right to Organize a tenant association or tenant union, please see https://rentboard.berkeleyca.gov/rights-responsibilities/tenant-right-organize