DATE:
November 4, 2025
15
TO:
Board of Supervisors
SUBJECT
Title
PROTECTING RESIDENTIAL RENTAL APPLICANTS AND TENANTS FROM PRICE GOUGING AND FEE EXPLOITATION (DISTRICTS: ALL)
Body
OVERVIEW
The County of San Diego (County) has increasingly become one of the most expensive places to live for renters in the United States. Indeed, the City of San Diego ranked number 12 among the 100 biggest cities in the nation for its overall median rent, ahead of Los Angeles, Seattle, Miami, and Chicago. Moreover, the average monthly rent in San Diego County rose 52% between 2018 and April 2025. Specifically, the average rent in San Diego County during this time rose from $2,071.67 to $3,161.94. Just in 2023, 141,544 low-income renter households in San Diego County did not have access to an affordable home.
Various fees imposed by landlords increase these costs, including rental application fees, tenant screening fees, and "junk fees" such as pet rent, late fees, and trash valet. These fees create significant barriers to housing that compound unaffordable rents, deepen housing discrimination, and make the housing search difficult for many people, especially low-income renters and renters of color. Additionally, fees add to the already heavy burden that exorbitant rents place on renters, with over 40% of renter households in the United States being "cost burdened," i.e., paying over 30% of their income on housing costs. For 27% of renters in California, or roughly 1.6 million households, rent is over half of their income. In San Diego County, 82% of extremely low-income households pay more than half of their income on housing costs compared to 1% of moderate-income households.
Accordingly, this is a request for the Board of Supervisors (Board) to direct County Counsel to draft an ordinance (1) prohibiting the charging of fees in addition to rent that is in excess of a percentage of the cost of monthly rent and (2) requiring landlords to disclose the total cost of th...
Click here for full text