News: Legislation

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When the state Legislature returns next month from its summer recess, lawmakers will have plenty of important bills to tackle. Many of these proposals address big issues for the rental housing industry, from seismic retrofitting to conserving water to preventing unauthorized subletting. Below you’ll find a list of 10 priority bills that are still in the legislative pipeline and a summary of what they would do. These bills are among the 54 bills that the California Apartment Association has either lobbied for or against in 2015. Earthquakes AB 428 (D-Nazarian) – Seismic Retrofit: Tax Credits – This bill would allow… Read More

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For years, tenants facing eviction have delayed the process by making unmeritorious claims regarding the presence of mold. A California bill, however, would undercut this delay tactic by clarifying when mold constitutes a substandard housing condition. While SB 655 by Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, provides that mold is a substandard housing condition, it will only rise to that level if a health officer or code enforcement officer has determined that it is extensive enough to endanger health or damage property. The bill specifically provides that  a property owner has no obligation to repair a mold problem unless the owner… Read More

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When it comes to calculating school developer fees, covered walkways are off-limits. A CAA-sponsored bill signed into law this week removes any ambiguity on the matter. The law already says that walkways in apartment complexes – not being livable spaces like apartments themselves – can’t be assessed for the purpose of school developer fees. But in some jurisdictions, as more builders have opted to cover walkways, they’ve incurred developer fees. While walkway covers protect people from the elements, they’re not livable spaces and aren’t assessable, clarifies AB 715 by Assemblyman Tom Daly, D-Anaheim. CAA sponsored this bill to make sure… Read More

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The California Apartment Association is fighting newly proposed legislation that would allow tenants to withhold rent and avoid eviction based on their own, unqualified opinions about whether apartments are outfitted with water-saving fixtures. CAA contends that AB 723 by Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, would fail to further water conservation, while needlessly subjecting rental property owners to litigation and lost rent. While it’s too late in the session to propose a new bill, lawmakers will sometimes get around this by jamming a new legislative proposal into an existing bill. Such is the case with AB 723, which was gutted and amended… Read More

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Revised to address property owners’ concerns, a bill that enhances protections for renters who fall victim to domestic violence is closer to becoming law. The Senate Judiciary Committee this week approved AB 418 by Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, on a 7-0 vote and now heads to the Senate floor. The bill had already passed the Assembly after the author took amendments from the California Apartment Association. The bill would make permanent a 2013 law that allows victims of abuse to quickly exit their residential leases without penalty. The law, SB 612 by Sen. Mark Leno, is set to sunset… Read More

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State Sens. Holly Mitchell and Loni Hancock on Wednesday held a news conference on their bid to amend California’s constitution and undermine California’s Proposition 13. SCA 5 would assess commercial and industrial properties at their market value, stripping away property tax protections under the state’s landmark law. Under this split-roll, it appears residential property, such as rental housing, would retain the tax protections offered by the 1978 voter-approved proposition. Getting Mitchell and Hancock’s measure before voters in 2016 would first take approval by a two-thirds majority in the state Legislature. Support for splitting the tax roll in California, however, has… Read More

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The California Apartment Association helped derail legislation that would make running background checks on prospective tenants overly complicated and a magnet for unwarranted lawsuits. In May, Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, withdrew this year’s efforts to pass AB 396, which got as far as the Appropriations Committee. The author had cited four goals with AB 396: To reduce recidivism rates by providing stable housing. To keep families together. To prevent homelessness. To prohibit unfair discrimination that is based upon reasons that have no bearing on the success of a tenancy. Despite laudable goals, AB 396 would have had several undesirable… Read More

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The state Senate this week passed a bill that would designate housing as substandard when mold is visible, however, the author says she will amend the legislation to address landlords’ concerns. “We’ve worked with the (California) Apartment Association on amendments to this bill, which, if this bill moves forward, we will take in the first assembly policy committee that will create protections for landlords by creating a process for which the tenant must notify landlord if mold issues have arisen in their unit,” Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, told her fellow senators before the vote. “Amendments also will allow for… Read More

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For the second straight year, state Sen. Mark Leno has conceded defeat on a bill aimed at weakening the Ellis Act, legislation that protects a landlord’s right to leave the rental housing business. Acknowledging the collapse of SB 364 this year, Leno said he’ll take it up again in January, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. More than a month ago, SB 364 failed to advance from the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee, where the California Apartment Association mounted fierce opposition. The bill would undermine a landlord’s right to leave San Francisco’s rental housing business. The proposal would make many rental… Read More

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A pair of pro-landlord bills that would help regulate short-term vacation rental companies such as Airbnb, HomeAway and Flipkey have advanced to the Senate floor. SB 761, sponsored by the California Apartment Association, would require online home-sharing sites to notify tenants that subletting their residence may constitute a lease violation. This bill, authored by Sen. Isadore Hall, D-Los Angeles, passed the Judiciary Committee this month. In California, most rental agreements prohibit subletting without the landlord’s permission. Many tenants who list properties on home-sharing sites, however, aren’t aware of this. The bill would require that short-term vacation rental companies do their… Read More

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