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The California state Senate has approved a bill that would
require landlords to consider prospective tenants who use Section 8 housing
vouchers.
Sen. Holly Mitchell
SB 329 by Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, passed
off the Senate floor Thursday with 24 yes votes, 11 no votes and three abstentions.
The bill, now heading to the Assembly, would make it illegal
to deny a tenancy based on the applicant’s participation in the federal Housing
Choice voucher program.
Tagged: LegislationSection 8
CAA was successful in stopping a bill that would have established a statewide rental registry with an initial price tag north of $20 million and negative privacy implications for both landlords and tenants.
AB 724 by Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, died when it failed to pass out of the Appropriations Committee by Thursday’s deadline.
Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks
As amended, the proposal sought to create a rental housing registry for all California properties with more than 16 units.
Each year, owners of units in these properties would have been forced to report a variety of data to the Department of Housing and Community Development, such as the size of… Read More
Tagged: Legislation
A bill approved by the California Assembly this week
would outlaw the use of a common type of rat poison, making it more difficult
to control rodent populations around rental housing and other buildings.
The
California Apartment Association opposes the bill, AB
1788 by Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, which would
prohibit the use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides. Pest control
companies use this tool to manage rodents around businesses, homes, apartments,
and other places where people eat, sleep, play and live.
Rodenticides protect Californians from the spread of
diseases, such as hantavirus and typhus.
Tagged: Legislation
Despite
opposition from CAA, a pair of “just cause” for eviction bills advanced this
week from the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
The bills, AB 1481 by Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, and AB 1697 by Assemblyman Tim Grayson, D-Concord, have now gone to the Assembly floor.
Both Grayson’s and Bonta’s proposals would limit evictions to certain causes, such as failure to pay rent, a substantial breach of the lease, or use of the property for illegal activity. Proving criminal activity, however, often requires testimony from third‐party witnesses who may be reluctant to come forward.
A bill that would require landlords to consider prospective tenants who use Section 8 housing vouchers advanced this week from the Senate Judiciary Committee.
SB 329 by Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, would make it illegal to deny a tenancy based on the applicant’s participation in the federal Housing Choice voucher program.
Sen. Holly Mitchell
The bill now moves to the Appropriations Committee.
Tagged: LegislationSection 8
Debra Carlton, CAA’s senior vice president of public affairs, testifies against AB 1482. Photos by Bob Knapik
A bill that would apply rent control and price-gouging protections statewide advanced today from its first committee hearing, while a second rent control proposal stalled amid strong opposition from CAA.
Assemlyman David Chiu
The Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development approved AB 1482 by Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, the committee chairman, on a 6 to 1 vote with one abstention.
A tenant-unionizing bill is being expanded to allow California tenants to withhold payment in protest when a landlord raises the rent beyond the rate of inflation.
Under an amendment to SB 529 by Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles, a rent increase above the consumer price index is listed as a qualifying “grievance” to go on a rent strike without risking eviction. The amendment was added Tuesday during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Sen. Maria Elena Durazo
Debra Carlton, CAA’s senior vice president of public affairs, testified that the new element to SB 529 amounts to rent control.… Read More
Tagged: Legislation
A
pair of bills that would greatly expand rent control in California will get
their first test in the state Legislature next week.
On Thursday, April 25, the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development will hold special hearings on AB 1482, which would apply rent control to every unit in California, and AB 36, which would weaken California’s Costa-Hawkins Act, allowing cities and counties to expand local rent control laws to single-family homes and newer construction.
California lawmakers are again taking aim at the ability of landlords to terminate tenancies.
February brought the introduction of two “just cause” for eviction bills — AB 1481 by Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, and AB 1697 by Assemblyman Tim Grayson, D-Concord. AB 1481 marks Bonta’s second attempt to pass statewide “just cause” legislation in as many years.
Both Grayson’s and Bonta’s proposals would limit evictions to certain causes, such as failure to pay rent, a substantial breach of the lease, or use of the property for illegal activity. Criminal activity unrelated to the rental unit, however, wouldn’t count as a “just cause” under… Read More
Lawmakers on Thursday announced a package of rental housing legislation that would cap rent increases statewide and allow local governments to apply rent control to single-family homes and 10-year-old construction.
The housing package also will include a “just cause” for eviction measure, as well as a statewide rental registry, the legislators said during a press conference and through a news release.
Although lacking detail at present, AB 1482 by Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, will cap annual rent increases based on the rate of inflation plus a yet-to-be-determined figure, the press release says, and would not supersede existing local rent… Read More