San Jose tenants demand reform to fix code violations

For years, landlords in San Jose have skirted code violations as tenants live in deteriorating apartments.

Now, residents with support from nonprofits Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, Latinos United for a New America (LUNA) and Regional Tenant Organizing Network are launching the “Healthy Homes” campaign to demand the San Jose City Council enact more robust measures in a city that has struggled to manage its affordable housing portfolio and code enforcement backlog.

The tenants have had longstanding problems with mold, pests and uninhabitable living conditions that have led to health issues. Out of 23,000 code violations filed by residents or documented by code enforcement over the past three years, only one case resulted in fines being levied by the Appeals Hearing Board that reviews code enforcement cases, according to the Law Foundation.

“The city needs to do better,” Cindy Tran, an organizer for the Law Foundation, told San José Spotlight. “These issues didn’t start this year. Many of these tenants are long-term renters in San Jose and they feel as though landlords are given chance after chance. But these issues continue to return or are outstanding despite contacting the city.”

San Jose inspects apartments on a three-tiered system, with the frequency of inspections varying from three, five and six years depending on the building’s code violation history. Buildings with the most violations and least compliant are inspected every three years, while owners at the lowest tier submit their own annual inspections to the city.

The coalition is calling for stricter regulations that include a third party to conduct inspections instead of  landlords certifying their own buildings; require building-wide inspections once one apartment has a confirmed violation; register landlords who continue to be noncompliant; enforce penalties for violations and more.

The Healthy Homes coalition has helped about 300 to 400 residents form tenant organizations in South San Jose, East San Jose and downtown.

Marika Krause, spokesperson for the Planning, Building and Code Enforcement Department, said the city is already implementing some of the changes the coalition is asking for.

The city launched a pilot program this past spring to impose more severe consequences for landlords who continually leave code violations unaddressed, she said.

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“We are meeting with the coalition and willing to explore how we can align with our work and ultimate goal of improving conditions for tenants,” Krause told San José Spotlight. “We believe there is good work we could accomplish together.”

Krause said most of the 23,000 housing code violations identified by code enforcement over the past three years have been resolved through voluntary compliance without issuing fines.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said he’s asked code enforcement managers to meet with the coalition to ensure the compliance team has fully addressed outstanding cases.

“The Law Foundation and our code enforcement department agree that no one should live in unsafe, unsanitary conditions,” Mahan told San José Spotlight.

Last fiscal year, San Jose issued 32 citations and more than 500 compliance orders. Citations are given for issues that are easily remedied like blight or graffiti, with fines ranging from $25 to $1,000 or more per violation, Krause said. Compliance orders are given for health and safety violations. When compliance is not met, higher fines can be levied by the appeals board on larger problems.

The city has 16 inspectors covering more than 110,000 apartments over roughly 6,750 buildings, according to data provided by the city.

Gabriel Manrique, an organizer with LUNA, said gaps exist in the system because the department is understaffed and landlords cannot be expected to document issues accurately if they are inspecting buildings. In addition, tenants are either unaware of how to file formal complaints or are afraid of retaliation.

Nayeli Fonseca, 38, has been renting in the Cadillac Winchester neighborhood for the past decade. She’s battled roach infestations and mold in her apartment, which has affected her three children’s health. She said her daughter has developed asthma and contracted infections in her adenoids and tonsils, requiring surgery. It’s taken an emotional toll.

“I felt a lot of stress because I felt like I couldn’t do anything for my family,” she told San José Spotlight through a Spanish speaking translator.

Fonseca moved out of her apartment into another in the same complex that also had mold, except it was confined to the bathroom. She connected with LUNA and filed a formal complaint. After a year of pushing code enforcement, the landlord finally remediated the mold.

Allowing landlords to voluntarily comply with code violations is what allows them to skirt the violations, Tristia Bauman, directing attorney of housing at the Law Foundation, said. She’s seen landlords offer a temporary fix that doesn’t solve the root cause, like scrubbing the walls but not addressing leaks that caused the mold to form.

“What we’d like to see are real financial consequences for landlords who are running substandard residential buildings,” Bauman told San José Spotlight. “They … demand thousands of dollars in rent and will evict those renters if they don’t pay. Meanwhile, landlords are violating their part of the contracts by failing to deliver adequate habitable housing, and they are able to exploit the understaffing of our local code enforcement in order to get away with it.”

Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or @joyce_speaks on X.