Mountain View Rental Housing Committee Regular Meeting – October 22, 2026

The Rental Housing Committee (RHC) of Mountain View, California, held its regular meeting on October 22, 2026, beginning at 6:03 p.m. The committee approved the consent calendar, adopted a tentative appeal decision in a tenant petition case, received the annual update on the rent stabilization petition program, and reviewed upcoming workshops and future agenda items. All committee members were present except Committee Member Balch; Vice Chair Hislop arrived later.

Consent Calendar

• The committee approved, by unanimous motion (5-0), the following consent items:
  • Minutes of the August 27, 2026 RHC meeting.
  • CSFRA and MHRSO financial expenditures for fiscal year 2025-2026.
  • Rent Stabilization Division activity report for fiscal year 2025-2026.
• During deliberation on the activity report, the Chair noted that rents on newly built units had risen from $4,532 to $4,880 per month (an 8% increase in six months) and fully covered units rose to $3,061 per month, up 7% from $2,871. Vacancy rates for newly built units dropped from 8.3% to 5.2%, and for fully covered units from 3.8% to 2.8%, making rent-controlled units harder to find.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No public comments were made during the oral communications portion of the meeting.
• No non-party public comments were submitted for the appeal hearing.
• During the annual petition program update, Alex Amaroso suggested that the petition program update be provided quarterly instead of annually. He described personal experience with needing timely information and assistance while his mother-in-law was ill and after she died of cancer, and said more frequent reporting would make committee action more timely.

Discussion Items

• Appeal of hearing officer’s decision (Petition C-25-26-0032): The appeal concerned a tenant petition for a downward rent adjustment based on alleged failure to maintain habitable conditions and decreases in housing services from noise from the unit below (snoring), the unit above, and ADU construction noise. The hearing officer ruled against the tenants, finding they did not meet the burden of proof. The tenants appealed three findings: the factual finding of only 10 nights of interrupted sleep from snoring, the finding that the bedroom remained usable/habitable for nighttime sleep because they used it for daytime work, and the equivalence of the landlord’s lease termination option to the relocation accommodation requested.
  • Staff presented the tentative appeal decision, which recommended remanding the issue of the frequency/persistence of snoring noise for the hearing officer to either correct the factual finding of only 10 nights or supplement the decision with an explanation. The remainder of the hearing officer’s decision would be affirmed.
  • The appellant tenant did not appear. Respondent’s attorney, Mr. Van Slyck, agreed with the tentative decision and recommended adoption.
  • Committee members voiced support for the tentative decision, noting the noise did not rise to the level of a nuisance, the landlord had no legal recourse to address the neighbor’s snoring, and construction noise occurred within permissible hours.
• Annual update on the rent stabilization petition program: Staff reported 328 petitions filed since the program began in 2017, 94% tenant-initiated. In FY 2025-2026, 34 CSFRA tenant petitions were filed; unlawful rent petitions decreased while undue hardship petitions increased, and habitability/maintenance/reduced housing services remained the most common. 19 of 36 petitions (53%) were resolved through settlement. Staff received 365 inquiries, including 187 tenant-petition inquiries and 166 habitability-related inquiries. Three appeals were received in FY 2025-2026; one was pending at year-end and has since been decided. Only one MHRSO tenant petition has been filed since the ordinance took effect in October 2021. 25% of petitions required language assistance.
  • Staff answered committee questions: two petitions moved from voluntary settlement to hearing, but no complaints of breached agreements were received; joint petitions concerned matters like carpet replacement or adding a pet; a repository of hearing officer decisions exists and is available to hearing officers.

Key Outcomes

• Consent calendar approved unanimously (5-0).
• The RHC voted to adopt the tentative appeal decision, including the remand to the hearing officer regarding the “10 nights of interrupted sleep” factual finding and affirmance of the remainder of the hearing officer’s decision. The motion passed with all members present voting in favor.
• The annual petition program update was received; no formal action was taken.
• The next RHC meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 19, 2026, at 6 p.m., and will include a high-level overview of the planned revision and restructuring of CSFRA regulations.
• Upcoming staff workshops announced: Mobile Home Rent Stabilization 101 (Nov 10, 6 p.m.), How to Be a Successful Tenant Under the CSFRA (Dec 8, 6 p.m.), and Property Owner Registration and Annual Fee (Dec 17, 2 p.m.). Weekly office hours continue Tuesdays 10 a.m.–12 p.m., and tenant housing help centers are held the first and third Thursday of each month, 6–8 p.m.