Fair Rents Delano Ballot Initiative filed
Delano is Once Again the Frontline in the Fight for Social Justice, Delano Leads Central California to Offer Rent Stabilization and Tenant Protections Against Corporate Landlords
62.6% of renters in the City of Delano are rent-burdened, paying over 50% of their income on rent and need protections from runaway rent hikes
DELANO, CA - Today, leaders from Rural Justice Alliance, Lupe Martinez and Yolanda Vega, residents of the City of Delano filed The Fair Rents Delano Ordinance for the November 2024 ballot. Four additional sister cities in Larkspur, Pittsburg, Redwood, and San Pablo also filed similar ordinances in a coordinated effort which all are expected to file this week. As rents skyrocket around California at the hand of corporate and out-of-town landlords, rural communities are demanding affordable neighborhoods and a fair return for mom and pop landlords.
This historic day will be followed by robust signature gathering operations in each city to qualify the measures for the ballot by collecting thousands of signatures from registered voters.
“Witnessing my own family members having to choose between displacing their children out of state or risk being homeless, that hurts me deeply as a mother”, said community member Yolanda Vega, a proponent of the measure. “Parents shouldn’t have to choose to traumatize their families just to survive, Delano needs tenant protections and rent stabilization for Delano families to avoid further displacement. And the time for that change is now”.
Citizens initiatives are rare in Delano, but with over half of renters considered rent-burdened (including 85-90% of very low income and farmworker families), many rural community members feel they have no choice but to take on corporate landlord greed themselves. There has been nearly a 40% increase in rents since 2020 and nearly 42% of the City of Delano’s population are renters.
Despite the slow recovery for many households from the pandemic, rents have risen at inordinate rates despite lack of livable housing conditions. The average rent of a 1 bedroom apartment in Delano is now over $1,700 per month, and a three bedroom unit for a family costs an average of over $2,000.
“The community is struggling, watching hard working farm-worker families have to survive on less than minimum wage while rents skyrocket is heartbreaking”, said Delano community leader Lupe Martinez, one of the proponents of the measure. “The Delano farmworker movement continues to be even more prevalent today, farmworkers are the most vulnerable to the unattainable rent prices which exhaust over 70% of their salaries just on rent alone with two to three generations living under one household. Delano is once again ready to lead for farmworker’s housing human rights”.
In many cases around the Central Valley, corporations have also purchased rental properties, only to harass tenants into leaving so they can raise rents for new tenants. The number of apartments affordable to those earning less than the median household income ($53,639) for the City of Delano have consistently declined, forcing multi-generations of families living under the same roof just to survive as rent prices keep soaring. Delano’s population consists of 75.7% Latinos/Chicanos and 14.3% AAPI which are the most rent-burdened families.
“The price of rent has more than doubled while minimum wage stays the same- I’ve had to go into debt, send my children out of state, and worked overtime daily missing important moments with my family just to live paycheck to paycheck to pay rent” said Humberto Ortiz who has been directly impacted by the cost of rent in the City of Delano. “We need rent control…Cesar Chavez didn’t know what would come from the strikes but it ended up helping so many people, the amount of homeless keep rising and there are people with nice cars living in the streets because they can’t afford the rent- this is not just an issue for very poor people this is affecting blue collar workers with good jobs as well”.
Over 60% of renters in the City of Delano are rent-burdened, paying over 50% of their income on rent and need protections from runaway rent hikes. According to statistical analysis of data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the American Community Survey, the risk of homelessness dramatically increases when rents surpass 30% of a household’s income (Zillow). In the City of Delano, a 20% increase in unsheltered homelessness already increased 20% between February 2022 and March 2023. Just In the past three years, during the pandemic, rent increased by 39.4% (Zillow ) directly mirroring the 54% increase in homelessness. Burdensome rents also mean families struggle to afford other essentials like food, healthcare, education, and childcare. In fact, the presence of a child in the home is a significant predictor of eviction. Another at-risk group are senior citizen renters who often live on fixed incomes and can be devastated by a rent increase or an eviction.
The Ordinance will promote neighborhood and community stability, healthy housing, and affordability for Delano families by controlling excessive rent increases and arbitrary evictions to the greatest extent allowable under California law, while ensuring mom and pop landlords a fair and reasonable return on their investment.
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