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Before listing properties on home-sharing websites, hosts should make sure they have adequate insurance coverage — just in case something goes awry during a short-term rental.
Under legislation by Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, companies such as Airbnb, HomeAway and Flipkey would need to post a disclosure about insurance coverage on their websites.
Senate Bill 1092 would require disclosures about the need for the property owner or tenant to review his or her insurance plan to confirm coverage in the event of injury or damage during the rental period.
If the hosting platform provides primary insurance coverage for the rental period,… Read More
Question: What is a prejudgment claim? When should it be used?
Answer: A prejudgment claim is a document that can be filed along with the summons and complaint for unlawful detainer. It requires that all persons who are claiming a right of possession to the subject property to file a response and they will then be added as additional parties (defendants) to the eviction lawsuit.
Question: What kinds of changes to the rental agreement require the “change of terms” notice?
Answer: Any material change to a month-to-month tenancy requires a written 30-day notice of change of terms of tenancy. It… Read More
Tagged: ColumnsComplianceLegal Q&A
Mountain View returned from the brink of approving binding arbitration — a form of rent control — during the City Council’s Tuesday night meeting.
The California Apartment Association played a pivotal role in mobilizing property owners to speak at the meeting and advocate for sensible landlord-tenant measures.
Mountain View had been considering binding arbitration, which allows a third party to decide how much rent can increase — if at all — making it a form of rent control. The city of Alameda formally approved such a policy March 1.
CAA succeeded in fending off this type of rent control in… Read More
Tagged: NewsRent Control Tri-County
According to one lawmaker, a law already requiring property owners to have low-flow plumbing fixtures installed by 2019 doesn’t go far enough.
Sen. Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, has proposed legislation to require plumbing fixtures conserve more water than mandated by an existing Jan. 1, 2019 deadline, and he’s adding more fixtures to the list.
The current law demands water-conserving fixtures for residential, multi-family, and commercial properties. Fixtures that don’t comply must be replaced.
Hertzberg’s SB 1173, however, changes the definitions of noncompliant plumbing fixtures.
The bill calls for the replacement of the following:
Toilets that use more than 1.28 gallons… Read More
Tagged: LegislationNews
If you plan to place a single-family home on the rental market, you may want to do it before the end of this year.
Under a bill by Assemblyman Ian Calderon, areas throughout California would limit the number of single-family homes used mainly as rental properties. The bill wouldn’t affect homes intermittently available for rent.
Calderon, D-Whittier, frames the bill as a way to promote the “American dream of family home ownership by maintaining and, over time, increasing the market of homes that are available for purchase.”
The legislation, however, would limit the already scarce availability of rental housing in… Read More
Tagged: Legislation
Just a few months after being vetoed by the governor, legislation to provide tax credits for earthquake retrofits is back.
Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian, D-Sherman Oaks, has again authored a bill that would help landlords pay for seismic upgrades.
AB 2392 would allow a tax credit in an amount equal to 30 percent of the qualified costs paid or incurred by a qualified taxpayer for any seismic retrofit construction on a qualified building.
Last year, the same proposal, carried as AB 428, passed both houses of the Legislature before being rejected by Gov. Jerry Brown.
Tagged: Legislation
A Southern California lawmaker has proposed legislation that would help deter frivolous disability-access lawsuits against landlords and other business owners.
SB 1142 by Sen. John R-Moorlach, Costa Mesa, would provide property owners and businesses a “right to cure” within 120 days of any Americans with Disabilities Act violation without penalty or threat of lawsuit.
The bill would stipulate that a defendant is not liable for statutory damages, costs, or plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees if the violation is corrected within 120 days of service of a demand letter.
California law provides that a plaintiff is entitled to a minimum of $4,000 per… Read More
Question: What happens if we rent to someone who is under 18 and is not an emancipated minor?
Answer: The lease is voidable because the tenant did not have legal capacity to legally enter into the agreement.
Question: Where do I get the lead paint pamphlets?
Answer: The California Apartment Association or one of its local offices, the office of HUD, or the Environmental Protection Services (EPA) has pamphlets available. The Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home pamphlet is available online here. The disclosure form is available here. And a fact sheet regarding the lead disclosure requirements is… Read More
Tagged: ColumnsComplianceLegal Q&A
Should Section 8 voucher holders be considered a new protected class under California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act? The plaintiff in Morris v. Sacramento Manor thinks so.
In that case, the tenancy was terminated when the owner decided not to participate in the Section 8 program anymore.
The tenant argues that Section 8 recipients should be considered a new protected class under the Unruh Act’s prohibition against any arbitrary discrimination.
Unlike most anti-discrimination laws, which protect only specific enumerated classes, California’s Unruh Act has been interpreted to prohibit any “arbitrary” discrimination.
Courts have previously found discrimination based on the following categorizations… Read More
The window is quickly closing for rental housing owners to voice their opposition to stricter rent control in San Jose.
The San Jose City Council is expected to vote on a harsher version of its current policy April 19.
Before it does, the city next week will hold one more committee meeting on the issue.
The California Apartment Association is calling on its members to speak out at this meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, at San Jose City Hall, 200 East Santa Clara St.
San Jose’s Housing Department will review its recommendations for the city’s rent control… Read More
Tagged: Rent Control Tri-County