News: Rent Control

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A statewide rent control measure targeted for 2020 would likely drive rental units from the market, decrease apartment property values, and possibly diminish annual tax revenues by tens of millions of dollars or more.  Those were some of the predictions this week from California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office. The nonpartisan fiscal and policy adviser published an analysis Monday of the potential impacts of Michael Weinstein’s Rental Affordability Act, or as some are calling it, Proposition 10 2.0.  The proposition is Weinstein’s latest attempt to return extreme forms of rent control to California through the statewide initiative process. Weinstein’s previous bid for radical rent control — Proposition 10 — failed miserably at the polls this past November.  The proposed statewide ballot measure would allow cities and counties to… Read More

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California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office today released a report predicting that Michael Weinstein’s Rental Affordability Act, or Proposition 10 2.0, would exacerbate the state’s chronic housing shortage by leading rental property owners to remove units from the market.  The proposition is Weinstein’s latest attempt to return extreme forms of rent control to California through the statewide initiative process. Weinstein’s previous bid for radical rent control — Proposition 10 — failed miserably at the polls this past November. The proposed statewide ballot measure would allow cities and counties to impose rent control on buildings after they turn 15 years old. Under… Read More

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Tenant activists are again attempting to place a rent control measure before voters in Pasadena. Rent control proponents last month announced they would attempt to qualify an initiative for the November 2020 ballot. Although the measure currently lacks details, tenant activists hope to cap rents at the rate of inflation and include a “just cause” eviction policy in the measure, according to LAist. The Pasadena Tenant Justice Coalition is behind the latest effort. The coalition includes five groups: the Pasadena Tenants Union; Socialist Scientists of Pasadena; Affordable Housing Services; American Civil Liberties Union—Southern California; and the Democratic Socialists of America… Read More

Tagged: Los Angeles

Over CAA’s objections, the Long Beach City Council this week approved an ordinance that effectively caps rent increases at 10% on the city’s older apartment buildings and limits the ability of landlords to terminate tenancies. The Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance, which advanced Tuesday on a 6-3 vote, contains forms of both rent control and so-called “just cause” eviction policies. The council is expected to formalize approval of the ordinance with a second vote June 11.

Tagged: Los AngelesLong Beach

Milpitas City Council on Tuesday voted 3-2 against a proposal to immediately implement rent control and “just cause” eviction policies. Following nearly four hours of testimony and council discussion, Mayor Rich Tran and Vice Mayor Karina Dominguez voted for the measures, while Councilwoman Carmen Montano Councilmen Bob Nuñez and Anthony Phan voted against the proposals. The rent control ordinance under consideration this week would have capped rents based on the rate of inflation. Under “just cause” ordinances, landlords can only file evictions based on a specific list of reasons and must be able to prove those reasons in court or… Read More

Tagged: Tri-County

With a rent control hearing looming at the Capitol, the Sacramento City Council last month postponed its own hearing on landlord-tenant policies.   The council had been scheduled to hold a second hearing April 23 on the proposed Residential Rental Mediation Program, which is intended to address high rents while housing supply catches up with demand.  Mayor Darrell Steinberg, however, moved to postpone the hearing in light of two rent control bills scheduled to be weighed at the state Capitol later that week.   Steinberg suggested that the robust discussions surrounding AB 1489 and AB 36 could have a significant impact on local landlord-tenant policies. The… Read More

Tagged: Sacramento Valley

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.

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Less than six months after Proposition 10 went down in crushing defeat, Michael Weinstein is again attempting to return extreme forms of rent control to California, a move that would decimate the supply of housing for California’s working families. On Friday, Weinstein filed preliminary paperwork with the state attorney general to place another statewide initiative before voters, aiming for the 2020 ballot. According to initial paperwork filed with California Attorney General’s Office, the new initiative seeks to create the Rental Affordability Act. Under this measure, cities and counties would be free to impose rent control on buildings after they turn… Read More

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Over the objections of CAA, the Inglewood City Council on Tuesday agreed to pursue a permanent rent control ordinance, “just cause” eviction policies, and a relocation assistance program tied to rent increases.   The council advanced these policies one week after extending a temporary rent control and just-cause measure for an additional 60 days. The interim ordinance caps rent increases at 5%.   Under the permanent rent control ordinance, rent increases would be limited to 8% each year.  

Tagged: Los AngelesLong Beach

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.

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