The 2019 rent stabilization ordinance was sold as the city's answer to displacement. It capped annual increases at four percent, tied them to inflation, and gave tenants a number they could hold onto.
Then came the parking exemption. Landlords who added off-street parking could reclassify their units as "new construction additions," exempt from the cap. On 4th Street alone, eleven buildings took the exemption — without a single new parking space being built.
Public records show the exemption was drafted by a lobbyist who also represented the 4th Street owners. The city's own legal office flagged the conflict in a 2020 memo that was never made public.
"The ordinance is fine on paper," said housing attorney Delia Rojas. "The paper is just no longer attached to the buildings."