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A bill proposed in the Assembly this year would help protect rental housing owners against baseless litigation filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Under AB 913 by Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced, a court may prohibit extremely high-frequency litigants from filing ADA lawsuits without first determining that the litigation has merit and is not intended to harass the defendant.

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Question: I suspect there are at least five people living in a one-bedroom apartment in one of our units.  The lease only allows three persons, and they have not paid rent. I want to serve a three-day notice to pay rent or quit, but I do not know all of their names. What should I do? Answer: If you serve a three-day notice, address it to the occupants for which you have the names and also to “all others in possession.” If they pay the rent, however, you may have agreed to the additional people living there. If you do… Read More

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A bill working its way through the state Assembly would reform a century-old California law that requires an apartment manager or other key employee to live at rental properties with 16 units or more. Under current law, this employee can be a manager, janitor, housekeeper or other responsible person. The requirement traces back to the early 1900s, before the advent of 911 emergency services and cell phones.

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Voters in Los Angeles on Tuesday soundly rejected Measure S, a ballot proposal that would have substantially blocked housing construction in the city for two years. The California Apartment Association vigorously opposed Measure S, which threatened to exacerbate the housing shortage in Los Angeles, making it more difficult for renters to find places to live and further driving up rents.

Tagged: Los Angeles

As early as May, the Concord City Council could vote to adopt a rent-mediation program for rent increases over 10 percent.

Tagged: Contra Costa

Question: I have been asked by another property manager if a former tenant of mine caused any problems and if I would rent to him again. I suspected that he was a drug dealer or at least a drug user but I cannot prove it. What can I tell her? Answer: If you are unsure, you should remain silent. From a legal point of view, it is always safest to say nothing. However, if you choose to do so, you should only reveal information, if any, that you know to be true and can be documented. When making a recommendation,… Read More

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For the third consecutive year, bills have surfaced to modify California’s Ellis Act, the 1985 law that protects a property owner’s right to leave the rental housing business, an important safety valve for property owners in rent controlled jurisdictions. One of the proposals, AB 982, would expand the number of tenants who are entitled to …

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Question: I have a tenant who has been late with the rent on a number of occasions. I charge him a late fee, and he pays it. When his lease expires, do I have to renew? Answer: Unless you are in a rent-controlled city, you are not required to show cause in order to not renew a tenant’s fixed-term lease and do not need to have or state a reason for non-renewal.

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Despite strong opposition from the California Apartment Association, the Beverly Hills City Council has tightened its rent control policies with a lower cap on annual rent increases and other draconian measures.

Tagged: Los Angeles

There’s a growing effort underway to make California communities safer, as cities throughout the state adopt new laws requiring seismic retrofits of buildings proven to be vulnerable to damage in an earthquake. San Francisco, Berkeley and other Bay Area cities were among the first to mandate earthquake retrofits for wood-framed, soft-story buildings – structures with open parking on the ground floor and apartment units built on the stories above. Los Angeles sparked the trend in Southern California with the nation’s most sweeping seismic retrofit law, adopted in 2015.

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