Measure H Has Passed!
This November, Pasadena voters passed strong rent control and eviction protections by a 7.6% margin! Starting December 22, Pasadena renters have new rights. Click the button below to learn more!
About the charter amendment
Measure H—the Pasadena Fair and Equitable Housing charter amendment—has two main parts:
- Rent control prevents massive year after year increases in rent for tenants who are already living in a home, while guaranteeing a fair return to landlords as required by state law. Under our charter amendment, a landlord would only be allowed to increase rent once a year, by a percentage that represents 75% of inflation for the last year.
- Just-cause eviction protections require landlords to have a good reason for filing an eviction such as non-payment of rent or breach of lease. Landlords could not evict tenants just because they don’t like them, or because they want to flip the unit and rent it out to higher-income tenants at a higher rent.
We must pass rent control and eviction protections at the same time because it is impossible to have effective eviction protections without rent control. Without rent control, a landlord wanting to evict a tenant for an unfair reason could simply raise the rent to a level they know the tenant cannot afford to pay. Then, they can evict the tenant for non-payment of rent.
Measure H qualified for the November 8th 2022 ballot with 15,101 signatures from registered Pasadena voters. Our city is ready for real tenant protections!
Tenant Stories
Members of the Pasadena Tenants Union wrote the Pasadena Fair and Equitable Housing charter amendment after working on the ground with tenants experiencing housing crises. The same kind of story is happening again and again. Long-time Pasadena residents are being forced to leave their homes so that landlords can flip the units and rent the place out – at much higher costs – to wealthier newcomers. Every year that we don’t enact rent control and eviction protections, more of the people who make up the heart of Pasadena will be displaced.
“I looked in the city website to see if I had any protection as a tenant, or if there was a law to help me to extend the 60 days that I was given, I was “lucky” that I have a surgery and could extend my time to one and a half months more. I also looked for a law that could make the owner help me with the moving expenses. Nope, there is nothing, not even a law to protect tenants from an owner that just wants to change the color of the tenants, or an owner who just wants to make the place cleaner so he can raise the price of the rent, twice as much or maybe more.”
Carlos Morena, Father and Pasadena resident of 35 years
“Landlords should not be allowed to evict tenants without just cause. Rents should not be allowed to increase astronomically from one year to the next. Because we lack these basic protections, my family is being forced to leave Pasadena to find a place we can afford. We will continue to commute here. My work is here. My grandsons’ friends are here. Our home is still here in Pasadena. But we are being displaced. Pasadena must come together to face this affordable housing crisis. We have to protect our community.”
Nathaniel Cooke, Fourth-Generation Pasadenan and Single Grandfather
Need help?
If you are experiencing an issue with your landlord, such as a rent increase, eviction, habitability issues, or harassment, please contact the Pasadena Tenants Union. If you leave a voicemail or send an email, a volunteer will get back to you. Please contact the Tenants Union directly rather than the campaign for the quickest response to urgent housing issues!
Join the movement!
We all need to work together to ensure that tenants in Pasadena are protected this fall. Please contribute however you can, by volunteering to talk with voters, donating to our campaign fund, or helping to spread the word!
Volunteer
Talk to your neighbors about the importance of rent control for Pasadena! We are doing literature drops, door-knocking, phone-banking, and text-banking. Click the link below to fill out a general volunteer intake form. Someone from the campaign will contact you about upcoming opportunities.
Upcoming Events
RSVP for Lit Dropping here
RSVP for Phone Banking Here
- Campaign Update Meeting, Wednesday November 2nd, 6PM, Throop Church (300 S. Los Robles Ave)
- Phone Bank, Wednesday November 2nd, 7PM, Throop Church (300 S. Los Robles Ave)
- Door Knocking, Saturday November 5th, 10am, La Pintoresca Park (45 E Washington Blvd)
- Door Knocking, Sunday November 6th, 10am, La Pintoresca Park (45 E Washington Blvd)
Donate
Help us print yard signs, window signs, and campaign literature!
Yard Sign
Request a yard sign or window sign at no cost to display at your home!
Join PTU
Join the tenants union & keep fighting for our dignity and security!
Endorsements
We are proud to have the endorsement of these community leaders! Join our movement! We welcome endorsements from both individuals and organizations.
Pasadena Tenants Union
League of Women Voters – Pasadena
ACLU of Southern California
National Union of Healthcare Workers
Democrats of Pasadena Foothills
Jess Rivas
Pasadena City Council Member, District 5
Tina Fredericks
Pasadena Unified School District Board Member, District 6
Brandon Lamar
Human Relations Commission Chair, Candidate for Pasadena City Council District 3
Jason Lyon
Planning Commission Vice Chair, Pasadena City Council Member-Elect, District 7
Steven Gibson
Pasadena City College Board of Trustees Member-Elect, Area 3
William Paparian
Former Mayor, City of Pasadena; Criminal Defense Attorney
Rick Cole
Former Mayor, City of Pasadena; Executive Director, Congress for the New Urbanism; Special Housing Advisor to the Mayor, City of Pasadena
Jacque Robinson-Bailey
Former Pasadena City Councilmember, District 1
Yarma Velázquez
Candidate for Pasadena Unified School District Board, District 7