California Apartment Association

A bill cosponsored by the California Apartment Association seeks to streamline the appeals process for affordable housing developers when local governments violate California’s Housing Accountability Act.

Under the state’s Housing Accountability Act, cities and counties are prohibited from rejecting affordable housing developments unless certain conditions exist. Yet officials frequently reject projects in defiance of the law. The story usually stops there. Most developers are reluctant to challenge a city or county in court because of the required time, expenses, and uncertainty.

AB 989 by Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel, D-Van Nuys, seeks to remedy this situation by creating a state Housing Accountability Committee to adjudicate violations of the Housing Accountability Act. This would create a quicker, less expensive, less confrontational, and more consistent alternative to enforcing state housing laws in court.

To be eligible for an appeal to the committee, a development must include a percentage of affordable units.

The bill is also cosponsored by CAA the California Housing Partnership