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Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill aimed at bringing more electric-vehicle charging stations to multi-family parking lots.
Thanks largely to the California Apartment Association, the measure won’t cost landlords tens of thousands of dollars, as originally proposed.
AB 2565, as first introduced by Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, would have required that rental property owners with more than 50 parking spaces dedicate at least 1 percent of the spots to electric vehicles — and pay to install the equipment. The cost is roughly $6,500 to $15,000 per station.
Following negotiations between all interested parties, however, the legislation now places the… Read More
Tagged: Legislation
Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill authorizing judges to saddle plaintiffs with attorneys’ fees when they employ bad-faith tactics in litigation.
The legislation, AB 2494 by Assemblyman Ken Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova, is intended to discourage frivolous lawsuits, as well as court action that’s intended solely to create unnecessary delays.
The bill, signed by Brown Thursday, Sept. 18, is supported by the California Apartment Association.
Tagged: Legislation
In 2014, the California Apartment Association helped kill a host of bad bills that would have, among other things, undermined the Ellis Act and encouraged jury trials in eviction disputes.
And while CAA largely succeeded during the legislative session, a couple of bad bills made it to the governor’s desk.The fight continues – see our links to letters — as CAA and a broad coalition of business interests encourage Gov. Jerry Brown to veto the following two bills:
Faulty legislation on the governor’s desk
AB 1897 (D-Hernandez) – Labor: Client Liability: This bill would imposes strict liability on an employer… Read More
A number of positive bills for the rental housing industry await Gov. Jerry Brown’s approval after the 2014 legislative session came to a close this past weekend.
The California Apartment Association helped push a variety of sensible legislation to the governor’s desk, such as a bill that clarifies that leases can be signed electronically, one that streamlines the approval process for water submeters and another that expedites the removal of squatters.
Here’s a sampling of CAA’s successes in advancing positive bills:
AB 2451 (Daly, D-Anaheim) – Water Submeters: This bill, co-sponsored by the CAA and the Utility Management and Conservation… Read More
Tagged: AdvocacyLegislation
A Proposition 13-related bill that would have closed a change-of-ownership loophole died in the Legislature last week.
Assembly Bill 2372 failed Thursday in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“I’m disappointed that we came so close to finally closing one of the worst loopholes of Prop. 13,” the bill’s coauthor, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, said in this Los Angeles Times article. “We finally had some business interests agreeing that the structure was unfair.”
Coauthored with Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra, D-Pacoima, the revised bill would have triggered reassessments following the sale of commercial property whenever 90 percent of the property is sold over… Read More
Tagged: LegislationTaxes
Under a bill that threatens to cripple California businesses, workers with wage disputes — but no evidence to support their claims — could record liens on the real property of landlords and other employers.
AB 2416 by Assemblyman Mark Stone, D-Monterey, awaits consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee, where it faces opposition from the California Apartment Association, as well as hundreds of business owners and other industry groups.
The scope of AB 2416 goes far beyond grievances over hourly pay. It would allow liens for disputes regarding overtime, meal and rest periods, vacation and commissions, and more. The bill also… Read More
Tagged: AdvocacyLegislation
Every year, California experiences thousands upon thousands of small earthquakes – hundreds each day.
Ninety-nine percent are so small we never feel them. Once in a while, though, we get a large tremor — like the 5.1 quake in Orange County this past spring — that reminds us to prepare for the Big One that seismologists keep talking about.
When it comes to the rental housing industry, California lawmakers have authorized local governments to establish seismic-retrofit standards for particular types of buildings they consider to be hazardous during an earthquake.
These would include certain unreinforced-masonry buildings, specified wood-frame, soft-story, and… Read More
Halfway through 2014, California lawmakers are a week into their summer recess.
You can probably picture it: Legislators back home, updating constituents at town hall meetings and Rotary luncheons, talking up bills they authored, stumped for and stomped down.
At the California Apartment Association, we’re as eager as anyone to talk about our continued successes during the past six months in Sacramento.
With guidance from CAA’s Legislative Steering Committee, CAA analyzed and lobbied for or against more than 70 bills that could help or hurt the rental housing industry.
As you’ll see below, we have had great success stopping the… Read More
Tagged: AdvocacyLegislation
A California law taking effect July 1 aims to eventually phase out smoke detectors that take replaceable batteries.
For now, however, landlords just need to make sure they’re existing smoke alarms are working. So don’t go ripping your nine-volt powered smoke alarm from the ceiling.
The law first focuses on the folks selling smoke detectors. It says battery-powered smoke alarms sold in the Golden State must have non-replaceable, non-removable batteries that last for at least 10 years. This regulation, however, has a yearlong exception that will keep old-fashioned-but-in-stock smoke detectors from going to waste.
Property owners, managing agents, contractors, wholesalers… Read More
An Assembly committee Wednesday, June 25, rejected a bill that would have allowed school districts to impose different parcel tax rates on different types of property.
SB 1021 by Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, received one yes vote and three no votes, with five abstentions, in the Revenue and Taxation Committee. The legislation faced opposition from the California Apartment Association and dozens of other business groups.
If SB 1021 had become law, school districts would have been able to charge varying parcel tax rates within a district based on characteristics such as parcel size, improvements to the parcel, or the use… Read More
Tagged: AdvocacyLegislation