Alameda's Barnhill Marina houseboat community gets justice with judge's ruling on rent hikes
An Alameda County Superior Court judge recently ended a three year long battle between a houseboat neighborhood and a new property manager's proposed rate hikes and fee increases.
The nightmare is almost over for the people living at the Barnhill Marina in Alameda. Three years ago, new property owners Valley Investments Redwoods took over the historic floating neighborhood.
Before long, they began raising the rent and other fees as high as 165% for some residents.
John Crossley has lived in the neighborhood for years. He said his slip fee rate, which covers utilities like trash and electricity, would have gone up by $900.
"Our fee was $700 and they were going to raise it up to $1,600, which is obviously even more than 100%," Crossley told CBS News Bay Area.
Additionally, the new owners wouldn't allow residents to sell their boats unless they agreed to the rent hikes. Crossley says one of his neighbors has been trying to sell for two years with no luck.
"It's been a difficult, I'm going to say four years, because I'm including the pandemic. So it's been a struggle," Crossley said. "And then, once we got out of the pandemic, then all of a sudden all this started to happen."
Raising rent more than 2-3.5% within a year is a violation of local and state rent control laws, which also extends to the boat slip fees residents like Crossley pay.
The city of Alameda fired back against property management with a lawsuit alleging the owners used unlawful tactics like huge rent increases to force tenants out and hinder home sales.
But as of Tuesday, Alameda City Attorney Yibin Shen said the legal battle is over.
"The final judgment has been issued. The city will work very hard to ensure that it's enforced and it's complied with," Shen said.
An Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the city, issuing more than $300,000 in penalty fees against the property managers and an injunction to keep them from interfering with house sales.
The marina is now under the receivership of Kevin Singer, who will manage the neighborhood for the foreseeable future.
While residents like Bob Knop are relieved by the final judgement, concerns still linger about what happens to the marina now.
"We don't know what the heck to do as to where we pay our rents, and how are the utilities going to be handled," Knop said.
Shen says the city is working closely with Singer to ensure a smooth transition. In the meantime, Knop says he's resting easier knowing the hard times are almost over.
"Now we have a little bit of closure," Knop said.