Albany Housing Advisory Commission to Vote on Tenant Protection Policy Framework

The Housing Advisory Commission (HACC) of Albany, California, convened on September 3, 2025, to discuss critical tenant protection policies aimed at addressing housing challenges in the community. The meeting, led by Chair Tiedemann, focused on developing a framework of policy options to recommend to the city council.

Chris Hess, a housing consultant for the city, opened the session by highlighting the significance of the meeting as a culmination of six months of work on tenant protection matters. He outlined three major areas for discussion: discrimination and anti-harassment policies, just cause for eviction, and rent stabilization. The commission aimed to gauge support for these policy areas, which would be presented to the city council for consideration in early 2026.

Hess clarified that the meeting would focus on regulatory policies—changes to local laws that would create enforceable requirements for property owners and renters—while program ideas would be discussed in a future meeting. He emphasized the importance of capturing nuanced feedback from commissioners, noting that individual opinions on specific items would be documented in the final report.

The commission reviewed several proposed policies under each category. For anti-harassment and discrimination, the options included protections for nontraditional families, prohibiting retaliation against tenant organizing, and defining harassment to include threats related to immigration status.

In the just cause for eviction category, proposals included eliminating the sunset date for existing protections, adjusting minimum tenancy requirements, and extending just cause requirements to previously exempt units. Additionally, property owners would be required to file eviction notices with the city and maintain valid business licenses.

Finally, the commission discussed rent stabilization policies, with a focus on eliminating sunset dates for California's rent stabilization provisions.

The meeting concluded with a call for public comment and a commitment to further refine the policy framework based on the discussions. The HACC plans to continue its work in the coming months, with the next meeting set to address program ideas and additional policy considerations.