Redwood City Measure E: A Property Owner’s Guide to the Fair and Affordable Housing Ordinance
Redwood City voters will decide Measure E on November 3, 2026. The proposed Fair and Affordable Housing Ordinance would create a local rent stabilization and tenant protection program funded through fees paid by rental property owners.
Most public discussion centers on rent control. Property owners need a wider view. Measure E also covers evictions, relocation assistance, tenant safety plans, rights to return, utility billing, buyout agreements, City filings, hearings, legal services, and civil damages.
Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. prepared a supplemental report for Redwood City under California Elections Code Section 9212. The report studies financial and operating effects beyond the rent cap. Older multifamily properties, small owners, master-metered buildings, and affordable housing providers face the greatest pressure under the report’s findings.
Which rentals fall under the rent cap?
Local rent stabilization would apply mainly to multifamily rentals built before February 1995. The report estimates pre-1995 buildings account for about 40% of Redwood City’s rental stock.
Current state law exempts single-family homes, condominiums, and post-February 1995 housing from local rent stabilization. Measure E treats those homes as partially exempt in many situations. Broader eviction, relocation, safety-plan, reporting, fee, and enforcement provisions still reach many rentals outside the rent cap.
Owner-occupied rentals with a shared kitchen or bathroom fall outside the ordinance when the owner holds at least a 51% recorded interest and lives there throughout the tenancy. Hospitals, certain care facilities, qualifying school dormitories, and selected government-owned units also receive exemptions.
How the proposed rent formula works
For a controlled unit, the annual increase would equal 60% of the percentage change in the regional Consumer Price Index for the 12-month period ending each April. The annual floor equals 0%. The ceiling equals 5%.
A 3% CPI increase produces a 1.8% allowable increase. A 6% CPI increase produces a 3.6% allowable increase. A 10% CPI increase still produces a 5% ceiling.
The City program would publish the annual percentage by August 1, with the new limit starting September 1. Owners would lose any unused annual increase. No banking or carryforward would apply.
Measure E also creates a rent rollback. A tenancy in place before October 29, 2025 would use the rent charged on October 29, 2025 as the base. A tenancy starting after October 29, 2025 would use the initial rent paid for the first term.
Owners seeking a higher increase would petition for a reasonable return. A hearing examiner would review income, expenses, property taxes, debt service, capital improvements, maintenance, utilities, and other relevant records. Owners with unresolved compliance or habitability problems would face limits on upward adjustments.
Eviction rules would cover more properties
Measure E requires an approved legal reason before ending most covered tenancies. Coverage begins without the 12-month waiting period found in current state law. Single-family homes, condominiums, deed-restricted affordable units, many owner-occupied duplexes, and newer rentals would face local eviction rules in situations where current law exempts them.
The measure preserves common fault-based grounds such as nonpayment, lease breaches, nuisance, major property damage, unauthorized subletting, and refusal of lawful access. Some state grounds do not appear as stand-alone grounds in the proposal, including refusal to sign a lease renewal, criminal activity, unlawful use, and failure to leave after employment ends. Related conduct still fits another listed ground when supported by evidence.
Owner move-in terminations face added restrictions. A landlord would face limits involving tenants age 62 or older, tenants with disabilities, terminally ill tenants, educators, and students during the school year. An owner or qualifying relative moving into a unit must occupy it within 90 days and use it as a primary residence for 36 months.
Relocation payments rise sharply
For a covered no-fault termination, an owner would pay the greater of four months of HUD Fair Market Rent or $12,000 to the tenant household. An elderly, disabled, or terminally ill household member adds $6,000.
Using fiscal year 2026 HUD figures, the EPS report estimates base payments from $12,000 for studios and one-bedroom units to $19,088 for four-bedroom units. Protected-household totals range from roughly $18,000 to $25,088.
Compare a one-bedroom tenant paying $2,000 per month. State law generally provides one month of contract rent for a covered no-fault termination. Redwood City’s current ordinance provides $2,000 for a standard household, $8,991 for a qualifying low-income household, or $11,988 for a qualifying special-circumstances household. Measure E starts at $12,000 for the same one-bedroom example.
Temporary displacement follows another payment schedule. For qualifying construction displacement expected to last fewer than 30 days, the owner would pay $200 per household per day for lodging and $50 per occupant per day for meals. A one-person household displaced for 30 days receives $7,500. Week-to-week extensions would apply when work runs beyond the original schedule.
Repairs would require tenant safety plans
Measure E would require an approved tenant safety plan before permitted repair or renovation work starts. Emergency work required within 48 hours receives an exception.
The report identifies water heaters, furnaces, roofs, windows, plumbing, electrical panels, structural systems, hazardous-material removal, and electrification upgrades as projects likely to trigger added review. Redwood City would write detailed safety-plan regulations after passage.
For an older two-unit or four-unit property, extra preparation time and temporary housing expense hit a smaller income base. A $12,000 relocation payment spread across a 100-unit portfolio has a different financial effect from the same payment at a duplex.
Rights to return follow the property
Tenants displaced for an owner move-in, rental-market withdrawal, substantial renovation, or demolition receive broad rights to return at prior rent and lease terms. Several rights do not expire under the proposal.
Withdrawal from the rental market creates reporting and pricing duties lasting several years. A unit offered again within two years creates damages exposure and a return offer at the old rent. A rental offered within five years faces the former rent plus lawful annual increases. The displaced household receives the first offer when a unit returns within ten years. Recorded notices and successor-owner duties place part of this burden on future buyers.
Redevelopment needs close review. A demolished rental replaced with new rentals within five years would bring rent controls and return rights into the replacement project. The EPS report flags uncertainty involving different unit counts, bedroom mixes, affordability rules, refinancing, condominium conversion, and later ownership transfers.
Ratio utility billing would end for controlled units
Many older apartment buildings use a ratio utility billing system, often called RUBS, to divide water, sewer, trash, or energy expense among residents. Measure E prohibits RUBS for controlled units, even when the lease authorizes shared billing.
A tenant would still pay a utility provider through an individually registered meter. Lawful submetering also stays available. Master-metered owners without either setup would absorb shared utility expense within rent.
The EPS report uses San Mateo County utility allowances to estimate water, sewer, and trash costs near $201 per month for a studio and $330 for a five-bedroom apartment. Gas and electricity sit outside those totals. Owners interviewed for the report described RUBS as common in older properties and estimated lost operating revenue near 10% after removal.
New filing rules raise the cost of small mistakes
Within 60 days after adoption, owners would begin sending the City copies of rent increase notices, changes in tenancy terms, and termination notices. Each filing would arrive within three days after service on a tenant, together with proof of service.
A missed fee or filing creates more than an administrative problem. The City program would authorize rent withholding after notice and a hearing for a knowing failure. A controlled-unit owner would lose the right to raise rent until compliance. Failure to pay or file before an eviction lawsuit would serve as a complete defense.
Buyout offers receive a separate process. Owners would give a City disclosure at least 10 days before making an offer. Tenants receive 30 days to cancel a signed agreement. Owners would retain records for five years and file the agreement with the program after the cancellation period.
Annual owner fees appear higher than the ballot text suggests
Measure E starts with annual fees of $120 for a controlled unit and $84 for a partially exempt unit. The City Council would later set fees high enough to pay the full program expense. General Fund money would front startup needs, followed by repayment from owner fees.
The EPS estimate is far higher. Ongoing administration, including legal services for low-income tenants, ranges from about $5.0 million to $11.1 million each year. Staffing ranges from seven to 18 full-time positions. Estimated ongoing cost equals $309 to $685 per rental unit each year. Under the maximum-enforcement model, startup-loan repayment and reserve funding raise the first two years to about $756 per unit.
Those figures sit on top of Redwood City’s current rental business license charges for owners with four or more units. The report notes a $90 annual property registration fee plus roughly $32 per rental unit.
Civil exposure changes the risk calculation
Measure E gives tenants and the City direct access to civil enforcement. Failure to provide required relocation money carries damages of at least three times actual loss. An unlawful eviction attempt carries the same minimum multiplier, including specified emotional-distress damages. Excess-rent claims also carry damages of at least three times the overcharge.
Harassment claims carry damages of at least three times actual loss or $1,000, whichever is greater. An offense against a disabled tenant or a tenant age 62 or older carries an added civil penalty up to $5,000. A prevailing tenant receives court costs and reasonable attorney fees. An owner receives attorney fees only after a court finds a claim meritless and brought in bad faith.
What the City report says about investment and housing
EPS stops short of predicting a single market outcome. The report identifies deferred maintenance, reduced reinvestment, delayed rehabilitation, lower redevelopment interest, and higher legal expenses as potential responses to higher costs and uncertainty.
The report’s 10-unit example shows $569 in added annual cost per unit from the proposed administration fee, current business-license increases, sewer-rate increases, and a water fixed-charge increase. The total excludes registration, water consumption, insurance, labor, repairs, property tax, and other variable expenses.
Affordable housing faces a separate problem. Redwood City has about 1,506 deed-restricted units, with 676 located in pre-1995 buildings. In the report’s 40-year model, a pre-1995 affordable project reaches minimum debt coverage near year 17, exhausts replacement-reserve funding near year 24, exhausts resident-service funding near year 35, then falls below full debt coverage. EPS describes the model as illustrative, rather than a forecast for every property.
Steps for Redwood City property owners before November 3
Start with the year built and unit type. Separate rent-controlled units from units facing only the broader tenant rules.
Create a rent history for every tenancy beginning October 29, 2025. Preserve leases, increase notices, concessions, payment records, and proof of service.
Review utility billing. Identify each master-metered property using RUBS, then estimate annual water, sewer, trash, gas, and electricity exposure without tenant reimbursements.
Price upcoming repairs, including relocation expenses and safety-plan work. A roof, panel, plumbing line, furnace, or hazardous-material project deserves a tenant-occupancy plan before permits.
Audit eviction and buyout forms. New City language, filing deadlines, protected-household rules, school-year limits, and return rights would change familiar procedures.
Build a compliance reserve. Include annual City fees, legal review, relocation payments, filing systems, and petition expense.
Review a planned sale or refinance. Recorded withdrawal notices, return rights, rent baselines, and successor-owner duties affect underwriting, disclosures, and value.
If voters approve Measure E, the ordinance takes effect 10 days after the City Council declares the result. Owners will have little time between certification and compliance. A property-level review now offers a clearer path for rent decisions, repairs, refinancing, and disposition planning.
Own a Redwood City duplex, apartment building, condominium, single-family rental, or ADU? Request a property-specific review focused on building age, tenancy history, rent exposure, utility billing, renovation plans, and sale options.