Workshops

Each year, the Rent Adjustment Program (RAP) conducts workshops on various Oakland rental housing law topics to help both property owners and tenants understand their rights and responsibilities. The complete workshop schedule is published on our website sometime in January or February, and workshops generally take place from March until November.
 

For questions about our workshop schedule or any related topics, please contact our office at (510) 238-3721, option 1, or RAP@oaklandca.gov. Housing Counselors are available to answer your calls Monday through Thursday from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM. Please note that it may take us up to 72 hours to respond to your inquiry.

Where is your workshop schedule published? How do I sign up for a workshop?

Our workshops are published on this webpage: https://www.oaklandca.gov/resources/rent-adjustment-program-workshops. When you scroll down to a topic you are interested in attending, click on the ‘CLICK HERE’ link. This will open up the reservation page on TicketLeap, where you can register to attend a workshop. 
 

You may consider following us on TicketLeap, where you can receive email notifications each time a workshop registration is posted to the website. Our TicketLeap page is here: https://www.ticketleap.events/events/oaklandrentadjustmentprogram.
 

If you would like to be notified of upcoming workshops, you may also sign up for our listserv: https://tinyurl.com/rapsignup. Our office sends out announcements about important news and events via email. 

I have registered for the workshop on TicketLeap. But I did not get the workshop link. What do I do?

Upon successful registration on TicketLeap, you will receive a confirmation email. This email is automatically sent from TicketLeap. A separate email containing the actual workshop link, which is held on Zoom and in webinar format, will be sent to you fifteen (15) minutes prior to the start of theworkshop the day of. Generally, our workshops are held on Wednesdays from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM.
 

If you do not see either the confirmation email or the workshop email containing the Zoom link, please check your spam or junk folder. Only TicketLeap registrants will receive an email containing the Zoom link.
 

Please note that registration deadline for each workshop ends at 5:00 PM the day of each workshop. 
You cannot register after 5:00 PM

Will your office return to in-person workshops in the future?

We do not yet have a date for when in-person workshops will resume. In the meantime, our workshops will continue to be held virtually on Zoom.

I am registered to attend the workshop and I have logged into Zoom. How do I ask questions?

Our workshops are held in webinar format on Zoom. If you have any questions, you may ask them by opening the Q&A box and typing your question in. Please note that you cannot raise your hand to ask questions verbally. All questions must be written

I have a question, but it was not answered. What do I do?

We ask that all workshop attendees keep their questions general in nature so that everyone may benefit from the discussion. If a question is too specific or outside of the scope of the workshop, we will recommend contacting our office to speak to a Housing Counselor. You may contact us at RAP@oaklandca.gov or (510) 238-3721, option 1.

I am interested in a specific topic that I do not see in your workshop schedule and/or it was not covered in a workshop. How do I make a suggestion about said topic?

We welcome feedback from workshop attendees. You can make a comment in the evaluation form, which is sent out to all workshop attendees after the workshop. You can also send us an email at RAP@oaklandca.gov with your suggestions.

I unfortunately missed the workshop. Is the workshop recorded? If so, can I get a copy of the recording?

Our office records workshops for training purposes. These recordings are not available to the public. 

However, all Zoom workshop attendees will receive a PDF copy of the presentation after the workshop ends.
 

If you missed the workshop, you may consider attending another session. We offer the same workshop several times a year. 

You may also review our many informational sheets, which can be found here: https://www.oaklandca.gov/resources/guide-to-oakland-rental-housing-laws.

You may also read the Chapter 8.22 of the Oakland Municipal Code here: https://library.municode.com/ca/oakland/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT8HESA_CH8.22REREADEV.

Why haven't I received a copy of the workshop presentation? I registered to attend the workshop.

You must attend the workshop in order to receive a copy of the workshop presentation. The presentation is generally sent to workshop attendees within a week of the workshop. If you do not see the email, which is sent from RAP@oaklandca.gov, in your inbox, please check your spam or junk folder. If you do not see it there either, it may be possible that you did not provide the correct email address when you signed into Zoom to attend the workshop.
 

If you encounter this situation, you may send us an email requesting a copy of the presentation. Please make sure that you provide your name, the email address you used to log into Zoom to attend the workshop, your housing status (owner, tenant, other, etc.), and ZIP code in the body of your email.

I still have questions after attending the workshop. How do I get in touch with your office?

Please contact a Housing Counselor at RAP@oaklandca.gov or (510) 238-3721, option 1. If the topic is related to the rent registry, please contact the Rent Registration Unit at (510) 238-3721, option 2, or RentRegistry@oaklandca.gov.

Does your office provide walk-in services?

Currently, our office does not provide walk-in services. If you have any inquiries, please contact us by phone at (510) 238-3721, option 1, or by email at RAP@oaklandca.gov. If your inquiry is related to a hearing, please contact your Case Analyst or HearingsUnit@oaklandca.gov. If you are attempting to submit eviction notices, please upload them to the Evictions Portal here: https://evictions.oakland.3diengage.com/#/homepage. You can also email them to EvictionNotices@oaklandca.gov.
 

Ellis Act documents must be mailed to our office at 250 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Ste 5313, Oakland, CA 94612. Please include a $250 check for each residential unit on the parcel. Please address the checks to the Rent Adjustment Program. Per City policy, we strive to respond to all inquiries within a 72-hour timeframe.

I have contacted your office several times and it has been more than 72 hours. When can I expect a response?

Due to the lifting of the Moratorium on Evictions, our office has received an incredibly high volume of inquiries. We are working through each inquiry in the order it was received. We appreciate your patience.

The Oakland City Council adopted the Rent Adjustment Program Ordinance (OMC Chapter 8.22) in 1980. This ordinance sets the maximum annual rent increase based on the annual CPI increase and handles rent adjustments for claims of decreases in housing services and handles other rent-related matters. The purpose of this program is to foster fair housing for a diverse population of renters and enforce the Rent Adjustment Ordinance set out by the City of Oakland.

By Phone

Phone: (510) 238-3721, Monday through Thursday, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Select Option 1 to speak to a Housing Counselor for any RAP or housing-related questions you might have. Topics can be, but are not limited to, tenant and property owner issues and concerns, Oakland rental housing laws, or how to file petitions or responses with RAP. Calls are generally limited to 10 minutes per person. 

Select Option 2 to speak to a Rent Registration Unit staff member for any registration-related questions that you may have. Note: The Rent Registration Unit does not provide any housing counseling. 

Per City policy, please allow us 72 hours to respond to your inquiry.

By Email 

If you would prefer an email response, you can email us. The RAP strives to return all emails within a seventy-two-hour timeframe.

Contact a RAP Housing Counselor at RAP@oaklandca.gov. Please include in your email your full name, your telephone number, your rental unit address, and a brief description of the issue regarding which you are calling. Housing Counselors answer non-registration-related inquiries only. 

Rent Registration Unit: If you have questions about the registration process, please contact the Rent Registration Unit staff at RentRegistry@oaklandca.gov. Note: Live Counseling Sessions [link to announcement w/ scheduled dates/times] on how to register your units on the rent registry portal are offered via Zoom. Rent Registration Unit staff only answers registration-related inquiries. Note: The Rent Registration Unit staff does not provide housing counseling. 

Hearings Unit: If you have issues or questions relating to your pending case, you must contact your Case Analyst directly. If you do not know who your Case Analyst is, you can email HearingsUnit@oaklandca.gov to find that information, or you can look up your case information here.

Petition and Response Review/Filing: You have the option to schedule an appointment for review of your petition or response before filing. To schedule an appointment for review, email RAP@oaklandca.gov. If you do not want your petition or response reviewed and are ready to file, please submit your petition or response to HearingsUnit@oaklandca.gov.

Eviction Notices: To file eviction notices online, click here. Eviction notices may also be scanned and submitted via email to EvictionNotices@oaklandca.gov. If you like a stamped copy of your eviction notice, you must mail us two copies of the eviction notice and included a self-addressed, stamped envelope. We do not provide confirmation of receipt for online or email submissions of eviction notices. 

By Mail

Address: 250 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Suite 5313, Oakland, CA 94612

Due to the Shelter-in-Place Order, we are no longer accepting in-person petition and related materials. All new petitions and petition-related documents can be submitted by mail to the address above. 

Ellis Act Cases

All documents for Ellis Act cases must be mailed to 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Suite 5313, Oakland, CA 94612. For more information on Ellis Act cases, click here.

Online Petition Filing

We also offer an online portal where you can fill out and submit your petitions and all petition-related forms online. Click here to access the portal.

Request a Form

General forms can be found on our website. For property owner forms, click here. For tenant forms, click here. If you cannot find the RAP form that you are looking for, you can email the Rent Adjustment Program at RAP@oaklandca.gov to obtain it.

Request a Document/Public Records Request (PRR)

To request documents related to a case, you can make a Public Records Request (PRR) here. Please note that all PRRs are public information. You can look up certain information related to cases through the RAP database.

Join the Email List

If you would like to receive emails about upcoming events or updates from the Rent Adjustment Program, please sign up! Please use the link below to add your name and email to our list for future updates.

Join the RAP email list!