Santa Clara County supervisors just moved to give renters in the county’s unincorporated pockets a much stronger shield against eviction, voting last Tuesday to widen who qualifies for just-cause protections and to lock in larger relocation checks when tenants are pushed out through no fault of their own. The overhaul pulls in renters in single-family homes, duplexes and many newer units that state law often leaves out. The ordinance is not in effect yet and now heads to its next procedural stop before final adoption.
What the ordinance changes
The measure repeals and replaces Division C5 of the county’s ordinance code, rewiring the local rules around just-cause evictions and relocation assistance for residential tenants. It extends protections regardless of how long someone has lived in a unit and pulls townhomes and condominiums under the same umbrella.
On at-fault evictions, the rewrite adds some guardrails. For example, evictions tied to criminal activity must be based on conduct that threatens the safety or peace of other tenants or the owner, not simply any alleged offense. Those provisions and other nuts-and-bolts details are laid out in the county staff report available here.
Board vote and reactions
The Board of Supervisors approved the changes on a 4-1 vote, with District 5 Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga casting the lone no. Tenant advocates packed the hearing and largely applauded the move, framing it as a way to keep families from slipping into homelessness.
“Housing stability is homelessness prevention,” Silicon Valley@Home organizer Emily Ramos told supervisors, according to San José Spotlight. Supervisor Susan Ellenberg added that the county should do everything it can to protect tenants who are following all the laws, as cited in local reporting.
Relocation assistance and enforcement
For no-fault evictions, the proposed code requires landlords to either cut a relocation check equal to three months of fair-market rent or waive the tenant’s final three months of payments, according to the county staff report linked here. The dollar amounts are pegged to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development fair-market rent levels, and staff included sample payment tables to show how that plays out in practice.
County officials also built in some teeth for enforcement. Late payments trigger extra daily penalties, an additional 100 dollars per day up to double the original amount owed. The county can seek to recover emergency assistance costs if it has to step in to help displaced tenants. Landlords will have to file notices through the Department of Planning and Development so staff can track who is following the rules and who is not.
Numbers behind the change
County figures presented at the meeting paint a picture of renters under heavy strain. Officials logged 4,053 formal evictions between July 2023 and June 2024 and estimate that 42 percent of renter households are cost burdened, meaning they spend a large share of their income on housing.
In 2025, roughly 3,800 households asked the county for housing help for the first time, while the county’s Homelessness Prevention System can serve only about 2,500 households per year. More than 5,000 households sought imminent-risk assistance last year, which forced staff to turn away thousands of people, according to reporting by San José Spotlight.
County leaders also flagged a thin legal safety net. By their count, there is roughly one attorney available for every 480 eviction filings, a ratio that makes full legal representation in housing court the exception, not the rule.
What happens next
The ordinance still needs to come back for formal adoption at a future Board of Supervisors hearing before it can kick in. If it clears that final hurdle, implementation will roll out with new notice forms for landlords and an online tracker where property owners must attest that they have paid required relocation assistance.
Property owners and renters can check whether a specific address sits in unincorporated county territory and review staff materials on the Department of Planning and Development’s tenant-protection page at plandev.santaclaracounty.gov. County staff are taking questions by email and phone and say they will update the public on exact timelines and enforcement steps once the ordinance is finalized.
