Shall the City’s Residential Rent Ordinance be amended to prohibit specific acts of tenant harassment by landlords and to provide for enforcement by means of court orders, rent reduction, monetary awards or criminal penalties?

Proposition M prohibits landlords from doing certain acts which would be criminal outside the apartment building. The victims in this case are usually those living under rent control whose landlords wish to give them the boot to bump up the rent.

Proposition M specifies the following acts which would result in a fine and/or jail time:

• failure to provide required housing services, repairs or maintenance;
• failure to safely complete repairs once they are begun;
• attempts to intimidate a tenant into vacating a rental unit;
• threats of physical harm to the tenant;
• violation of laws against discrimination;
• refusal to acknowledge receipt of a rent check, or refusal to cash a rent check for over 30 days; and
• request of information that could violate a tenant’s right to privacy, including information about residence, citizenship status or social security number.

The proposition sounds reasonable. With clear and specific acts listed, there can be no argument as to whether or not harassment occurred.

Vote yes on Proposition M.