Housing Long Beach: The Fight for Renters Rights

The Long Beach nonprofit, Housing Long Beach, believes in strong Renters Rights. Their mission and vision reflect that goal. Just read their mission and vision statements on their website:

Housing Long Beach uniquely meets the needs of Long Beach residents by working to improve, preserve and increase the supply of affordable housing for the well-being of Long Beach residents through community organizing, policy work and systems change. 

Our vision is a Long Beach where all residents live in affordable, accessible, quality housing in healthy and empowered communities where government officials are responsive to the social and economic needs of all residents.

However, Housing Long Beach has recently come under attack by another organization, Better Housing for Long Beach. Their website describes themselves as “a new broad-based grass roots community organization composed of both housing providers and residents.”

The Long Beach Business Journal provided them a platform for their attacks in a August 1 article, New Action Committee Fires Back After Claiming Local Community Group Has ‘Launched An Attack’ On Property Owners. According to the article, an email was sent inviting people to show up for a July 17 meeting. The article quotes the committee of accusing Josh Butler, Executive Director of Housing Long Beach, of mounting “a campaign against property owners that includes rent control and REAP for Long Beach.” REAP stands for Rent Escrow Account Program.

PalacioMagazine.com sat down with Butler for a three part interview about Housing Long Beach, his reaction to these latest attacks from Better Housing for Long Beach and his organization’s plans for the future.

Josh Butler

Housing Long Beach: The Interview Part 1

Josh Butler addressed a recent Long Beach Press-Telegram article with an explosive title, Downtown Long Beach Revitalization: Urban Renewal or Economic Cleansing? Butler addressed the growing concerns of residents in Downtown Long Beach who are witnessing displacements of tenants in their midst.

Housing Long Beach: The Interview Part 2

One of the other targets of attack by Better Housing for Long Beach is the City of Long Beach program Proactive Rental Housing Inspection Program (PRHIP). According to the city’s website, the program is administered by Long Beach Development Services.

“To safeguard the stock of decent, safe, and sanitary rental housing, the City of Long Beach has established a Proactive Rental Housing Inspection Program. This Program was created to maintain livability standards, protect against blight, and secure Citywide compliance through efficient and effective enforcement of the Long Beach Municipal Code. The City has been enforcing this Program for many years, pursuant to the California Health and Safety Code. The PRHIP Ordinance allows the Program to now be codified into the Long Beach Municipal Code.”

The city’s website explains in great detail the rights and responsibilities of both Landlords and Tenants. In another Long Beach Business Journal article Understanding The Proactive Rental Housing Inspection Program – City Responds To Claims, Concerns Of Landlords And Tenants, representatives for Better Housing for Long Beach claimed the ordinance is “very harmful to the community.” They went on to list a litany of charges against the city’s Code Enforcement Division including targeting low income tenants, efforts to force owners out of their buildings and “violating tenants’ Fourth Amendment rights by entering without permission and asking for personal information.”

Long Beach Code Enforcement Division Officer Kurt Keating, who oversees the PRHIP program, rebutted the complaints. Josh Butler addressed them in Part 2 of our interview.

Housing Long Beach: The Interview Part 3

Housing Long Beach has been promoting a program stronger than PRHIP. It’s called Rent Escrow Account Program or REAP.

Housing Long Beach identified a Rent Escrow Account Program as an effective tool to address the condition of substandard homes.  REAP would allow tenants residing in substandard homes to pay their rent, or a reduced rent, to the City until their homes are repaired.  This Program would be at no cost to the City, it would repair dilapidated units and it would protect tenants from unfair retaliation.

This proposal has also been a target of Better Housing for Long Beach. According to Housing Long Beach, many cities in California have adopted similar programs as a cost effective way to improve the quality of the existing housing stock.  Such cities include: Los Angeles, Sacramento, Oakland, Santa Monica, San Francisco and Elk Grove.

But in the Long Beach Business Journal articles, Better Housing for Long Beach claims those programs actually make housing less affordable. Josh Butler explains why REAP is important to protect Renters Rights and demand accountability from all parties.

PalacioMagazine.com plans to reach out to Better Housing for Long Beach and other parties mentioned in the Business Journal articles. We’ll continue our coverage of this very important issue, Affordable Housing in Long Beach.

Additional Resources on Housing

• Proactive Rental Housing Inspection Program (PRHIP)
• Tenant/Landlord Rights and Responsibilities Brochure