Tenants band together to improve their living conditions. But the work is far from over.

Celia Jiménez here, thinking of renters and landlords. Over the past few years, I’ve covered several housing-related policies the City of Salinas has implemented (and revoked), such as rent stabilization, tenant protection and a rental registry, as well as the factions that have opposed or supported them.

I’ve also seen the work Salinas residents have put in to keep rent stabilization in place (voters will decide what happens with it in November) and the program the city has set in place to aid residents who are struggling to pay rent or acquire a home.

In the middle of all of this and out of the public eye, many residents are experiencing substandard living conditions, sometimes due to neglect or a lack of reliable means to communicate with their landlords. 

Earlier this month, the Center for Community Advocacy announced how the lives of several families from Salinas changed after it intervened. The group announced that after organizing to address unsafe living conditions, low-income farmworker families living at Garden Court Apartments were able to score improvements to their complex.

The landlord fixed 53 issues tenants identified, including non-functional heaters, broken appliances and electrical issues. 

Joel Hernandez, CCA’s executive director, says it was a big victory for families. 

“We're paying high rents, and the least that we can do is live in a decent, habitable apartment complex,” he says.

The investigation began after one of the families reached out to CCA, which prompted outreach and meetings with the tenants to inform them of their rights and obligations. 

Once the issues were identified, CCA’s attorney sent a letter to the property management company informing them of the code violations. The company promptly responded and began fixing the issues soon after. 

Hernandez adds the management company is working on an application that will allow tenants to easily report issues and will adopt a 24-hour system to allow reporting after business hours.

“They're trying to find ways to make sure that tenants can report any issues in their apartment complexes,” he says. 

Hernandez notes it is not too common for landlords to address issues this quickly. He says the management company addressed the issue a few days after receiving the attorney’s letter and completed the repairs in six weeks. 

While CCA and tenants are celebrating this positive outcome, the work isn’t over. Once the organization shared the news, “I received five more calls,” says Jesus Estrada, CCA’s lead housing organizer. Hernandez says they are exploring whether they will also take that case, noting the organization takes two or three cases per year.

While these families experienced some good news, I also think about the inspection and enforcement program that was left out when the Salinas City Council passed the rental registry in 2022. 

Incurring higher costs was one of the reasons why this program wasn’t included, but it is clear, after seeing this case, that something else needs to be done to ensure properties are up to code. Restaurants, schools, hotels, etc., are inspected every year to ensure safety and code compliance, so why should residential properties be exempt?