Claremont housing advocate groups tabled outside of Frary, Malott and Collins dining halls last week, collecting signatures for a tenant protection petition and registering students to vote in the city’s Nov. 3 election. The groups’ outreach corresponds with ongoing debate over Claremont’s housing policy, which remains unsettled.
Two organizations spearheaded the initiatives: Inclusive Claremont, a coalition of 5C students and community members advocating for affordable housing and broader civic participation in the city and Claremont Tenants United, a local grassroots organization of renters seeking stronger tenant protections and policies to prevent displacement.
The petition circulating across Claremont and the 5Cs, created by Tenants United, calls for a tenant protection measure to be placed on a future municipal ballot, as well as stronger restrictions on evictions and limits on annual rent increases.
It also supports the creation of a rental registry, which would help monitor rent stabilization and increase market transparency — a proposal City Council rejected earlier this month. In Claremont, where roughly one-third of households are renter-occupied, rent increases of up to 10 percent annually are permitted under state law, and the rental market is above the national average.
Jose Ochoa, a Claremont resident and co-leader of Tenants United, said the group formed about three years ago, when Claremont had no local renter protections. He said the petition seeks to show elected officials that residents support stronger regulations.
“We’re collecting signatures to show how many people in Claremont want rent stabilization,” Ochoa said. “Then we negotiate with the City Hall.”
Noa Polish SC ’26, president of Inclusive Claremont, pointed to the consortium’s historical connection with the city, arguing that students have a responsibility to engage with local housing issues. She said the club’s voter registration efforts directly support the goals of Tenants United.
“We are working on gathering signatures for a petition that seeks to strengthen tenant protections in Claremont, and in order to show Claremont City Council that there are vested stakeholders in Claremont who care about housing,” Polish said.
Ochoa said that any proposal suggested by the petition would likely face opposition from landlords, but Claremont Tenants United plans to continue organizing as it did in 2022, when members regularly attended council meetings to advocate for tenant protections.
City Council has tightened local ‘just cause’ eviction rules in the past and provided tenants with additional safeguards beyond state requirements, and has funded programs to stabilize housing for renters. However, in 2025, the council rejected a proposal to establish a citywide rental registry — a database designed to track local rental housing — after advocates and opponents clashed over its cost and potential impact.
Miranda Elder PO ’29, member of Inclusive Claremont, said that Claremont’s housing policy reveals a disconnect between the city’s public image and its lived realities.
“You’ll walk around Claremont and see signs that encourage inclusion,” Elder said. “But when it comes to homelessness and even people who just rent their homes, Claremont is not very inclusive at all.”
Elder said that the expansion and purchasing power of the Claremont Colleges influence housing availability, land use and local priorities, making student engagement in municipal politics pivotal.
For members like Anna Parrott PO ’26, that connection between the Colleges and the city underscores why students should be involved.
“If we truly believe in community building and local engagement so often promoted in 5C academic spaces, we should be practicing that now, not once college ends,” Parrott said.
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