Mountain View Rental Housing Committee Meeting – December 18, 2025

The Rental Housing Committee (RHC) met on December 18, 2025, at 6:02 PM and adjourned at 7:09 PM. The meeting included a consent calendar, an appeal hearing regarding two tenant petitions, a discussion of hearing officer and settlement facilitator remuneration, and amendments to utility charge regulations. All votes during the meeting were unanimous.

Consent Calendar

• The committee approved the minutes from the November 20, 2025 RHC meeting by a single motion without pull of any items or public comment.

Public Comments & Testimony (Appeal Hearing)

• Appellant (Landlord, Steve) argued that the hearing officer demonstrated systemic favoritism toward tenants, citing a staff report stating that 95% of petitions since 2016 have been decided in favor of tenants. He claimed the hearing officer accepted tenant statements as fact while discounting landlord statements, and pointed to specific pages of the hearing decision (e.g., accepting Mrs. Wang’s claim that Mr. Wang vacated the unit on December 7, 2024 without corroborating evidence at the time). He also referenced a prior case where a missing screw from a stove was deemed a habitability issue.
• Respondent (Tenant, Mrs. Wang) testified that the landlord failed to address habitability issues (no bathroom use, secondhand smoke, landlord entering without notice), and expressed gratitude for the city’s process. She stated she provided evidence throughout the proceedings and that the hearing officer was accurate.
• Rebuttals: The landlord declined rebuttal; the tenant reiterated that the landlord ignored her complaints and tried to evict her.

Discussion Items

• Appeal Hearing (Item 5.1): The committee reviewed a landlord’s appeal of a hearing officer’s decision regarding two petitions (Nos. 24‑25‑42 and 24‑25‑43). The petitions alleged an unlawful $175 fee and a habitability issue from secondhand smoke. The hearing officer had ordered a 20% rent reduction for November 6–December 6, 2024, a 100% reduction for December 7, 2024 – December 8, 2025, and invalidated a rent increase because the landlord was out of substantial compliance, rolling rent back to $2,195/month. The landlord’s appeal claimed systemic bias by the hearing officer. Staff recommended upholding the decision, stating the appellant failed to demonstrate actual bias. Committee members noted that hearing officers have discretion to weigh evidence, that the record included corroboration (e.g., airline ticket for Mr. Wang’s absence), and that the 95% statistic does not indicate bias because tenants self‑select to file petitions only when they believe they have a valid claim. The landlord’s argument was rejected, and the motion to accept the tentative appeal decision passed unanimously.
• Hearing Officer and Settlement Facilitator Remuneration (Item 6.1): Staff proposed fixed hourly rates of $300 for hearing officers, $175 for paralegals, and $125 for settlement conference facilitators, effective January 1, 2026, with an annual cost‑of‑living adjustment thereafter. The committee discussed comparability to other jurisdictions and confirmed the budget ($170,000) would not be exceeded. The motion was adopted unanimously.
• Amendments to CSFRA Regulations – Utility Charges (Item 6.2): An amendment to Chapter 13 was presented to incorporate a 4.7% CPI increase (June 2023 to June 2025) into step 8 of the one‑time utility adjustment (OTUA) process. This applies only to petitions still pending; notices already finalized are unaffected. The committee approved the amendment unanimously.

Key Outcomes

• Appeal upheld: The committee voted unanimously to accept the tentative appeal decision, affirming the hearing officer’s findings on unlawful fees, habitability, rent reduction, and rent rollback.
• New remuneration rates adopted: $300/hour (hearing officers), $175/hour (paralegals), $125/hour (settlement conference facilitators) effective January 1, 2026, with annual COLA.
• Utility regulation amended: Step 8 of the OTUA process updated to include the 4.7% CPI change from 2023 to 2025, applicable to pending petitions.
• Next meeting: Scheduled for Thursday, January 22, 2026, at 6 PM, with an agenda item on legislation and litigation updates.