When my husband and I separated, I thought finding a home for my daughters and me would be easy. We lived in Merced County so options were limited, but I was going to move to the city of Merced and there would be more opportunities to find housing – or so I thought.
Instead, I discovered how difficult it was to find the bare minimum: a safe, habitable, and affordable home. I had to repeatedly settle myself and my daughters in degrading conditions because there was no other option.
Before the separation, we lived in a small home for 13 years. When we first moved in, rent was stable at $700 a month, but the place came with no remodels or repairs. Although the home needed a lot of work done, we conformed and paid out-of-pocket for all the repairs, exterminations, and carpet cleanings. We stayed silent because my ex-husband was always in fear of the landlord retaliating against us. Today, my ex-husband pays $1,350 a month.
The same problems followed me as I searched the city of Merced. Many places either cost too much or refused to rent to me because I didn’t make two times the rent. As I became more desperate to find housing, I came across an apartment in South Merced near R and 3rd streets for $2,000 a month.
I still remember pointing out the disgusting smell coming from within the apartment and having the property manager tell me “The place comes as is. If you don’t like it, then really think about your decision to move in because we won’t repair or change anything.”
Dirty floors, broken outlets, no central air or heating, a faulty stove, and a poorly maintained complex. I took it as-is. I knew I couldn’t waste another day without housing.
However, in order to qualify, I had to share the apartment with another tenant so we could split the costs. I also had to rely on rental assistance programs to help cover the deposit and the first couple months of rent because otherwise, I still wouldn’t have been able to afford it.
I was able to move out of that apartment complex and move into another in North Merced with my daughters. But this is the reality that so many renters in the city of Merced are forced to navigate alone. We shouldn’t have to adapt to awful living conditions simply because we have nowhere else to go.
The city of Merced’s Housing Element, which is over two years late, still fails to include programs and policies that will address egregious housing conditions and the lack of tenant protections.
The city’s solution of a Repeat Housing Code Violators program addresses tenants’ horror stories of landlords that refuse to make improvements for walls riddled with mold, issues with leaky plumping, units infested with rodents and pests.
However, that policy does not address increased rent, terminated tenancies, or endless harassment when landlords do complete repairs. There seems to be a willful indifference from the city to develop solutions that will mitigate retaliation and inevitable displacement, whether tenants are forced to vacate due to conditions, or because landlords terminate the tenancies.
Tenants have collectively demanded programs that will mitigate the negative effects of reporting uninhabitable conditions, such as tenant relocation assistance and an eviction protection program.
California state law requires owners of units to provide tenants with two months of fair-market rent for the county, utility deposit, and return any security deposits in the event that the local code enforcement identifies unlivable conditions and provides an order to vacate. The city should establish a tenant relocation assistance program to advance benefits to tenants if the owner does not pay to reduce the risk of a household experiencing homelessness if they were to be displaced.
Similarly, through an eviction protection program, the city should provide legal assistance to tenants regardless of immigration status, bridging the gap for tenants that currently do not qualify for legal aid.
Community members urge the city to commit to incorporating these solutions into the Housing Element. By 2032, the end of the planning period, tenants should have stronger safeguards to confidently report substandard housing conditions and should have resources to turn to if they are dealing with evictions or need legal assistance pertaining to their tenancy.
It’s time for renters to show up and demand that the city invest in enforceable tenant protections. Join us as the Planning Commission votes on the Housing Element on May 20 at 6 p.m. at the Merced Civic Center.
Rocio Peña is a Merced renter whose experiences navigating housing instability has led her to advocate for safer housing conditions and stronger protections for renters across the city of Merced.
Ashley Marie Suarez is a housing and land use policy advocate with Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability. Ashley Marie works alongside various communities throughout the city of Merced, Merced County, and Madera County to help strengthen their advocacy for just and dignified housing and community development.