SAN DIEGO — A coalition of tenant organizers and advocacy groups is taking the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) back to court, alleging that the agency approved illegal rent increases for Section 8 tenants and misused federal housing funds intended to support the city’s lowest-income renters.
The lawsuit, filed by the San Diego Tenants Union, Black Men and Women United San Diego, and community organizer Francine Maxwell, accuses the Commission of funneling scarce Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) funds into private landlord profits by greenlighting rent increases that violate state law—including California’s rent cap under the Tenant Protection Act.
“By disregarding state law and imposing illegal rent increases on voucher holders, the Commission is not only jeopardizing the housing stability of the lowest-income renters, but handing private landlords a windfall in profits at the taxpayers’ expense,” said Rafael Bautista, director of the San Diego Tenants Union…