Moore kept waiting, paying his rent on time and, he said, believing his landlord's promises. But he finally got fed up and moved out, he said. He took his case to the city's Rent Stabilization Board and small claims court and won in both venues. It would be a done deal. But while the toll of rent control remains in question, the current status of East Palo Alto's rental housing stock is not.
Many complexes are ailing due to a clear lack of attention.
Problems like those suffered by Moore and his family are rampant. Vacancies, something rent control is ideally supposed to keep down, are widespread. The property was sold in foreclosure in 1993. Property owners say there was a spate of foreclosures in the early 1990s, especially among run-down apartment complexes located on the west side of Bayshore Freeway. Fred Kiani, a member of the rent board and owner of an apartment building, said, according to his figures, there were 20 apartment building foreclosures in 1993 alone.