We just dropped the latest news on a yearslong saga about illegal rent increases in San Diego.
This all started in 2023, when our investigation revealed the San Diego Housing Commission was approving rent increases for Section 8 tenants without first ensuring those increases were lawful. Three years later, the Housing Commission maintains the agency never approved any increases that were illegal. Its argument? A judge never ruled on it.
“As I’ve mentioned to you before, your characterization of approved rent increases as ‘illegal’ is factually wrong,” spokesperson Scott Marshall said in an email. “No California court has made any such determination about SDHC’s actions in our Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program regarding rent increases that landlords requested within the Housing Choice Voucher program’s requirements.”
However, inewsource has found multiple examples of approved rent increases that appear to violate state law, including one tenant who received an increase more than three times what was allowed.
For more, read my latest story about the Housing Commission’s recent settlement agreement.