News

Filter

The California Apartment Association has identified three noteworthy bills to help address the state’s growing homelessness crisis. SB 918 by State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, would establish $60 million in grants from the cannabis tax and other funds to provide rental assistance, transitional housing and shelters for homeless youth. The bill would also streamline the state’s efforts to combat homelessness among minors.

Tagged:

Joseph A. Lawton Jr., president of the California Apartment Association’s statewide board of directors, took the oath of office Thursday during the association’s March 1 board meeting.

Tagged:

While California’s economy continues to grow, the expansion has slowed considerably amid the state’s ongoing housing crisis and an ensuing labor shortage, according to a pair of reports released today by the California Apartment Association. CAA’s Industry Intelligence Report for Northern California (available here) and a corresponding report for Southern California (available here) use both statewide and regionally specific data to explore the connections between the state’s lack of housing, a depleted workforce and dimmed prospects for economic growth. Beacon Economics prepared both reports.

Tagged:

Question: Can you tell me if someone needs any kind of certification or license to manage property in California? I want to hire someone to manage some of my smaller (less than 10 units) buildings. This person will accept rent, give out notices, handle complaints, and supervise maintenance work. Answer: They are required to be a licensed real estate broker in order to manage property in California for a third party. An exception is for a manager who lives on-site.

Tagged:

A bill introduced last week would once again extend a California pilot program that helps rid apartment communities of tenants in who are in the illegal possession of guns, ammo or drugs. The pilot program, which applies only to certain jurisdictions, allows prosecutors and city attorneys to initiate the eviction process, at a landlord’s request, to stop nuisances involving unlawful weapons, ammunition or drugs. The program allows those evictions to be based on law enforcement paperwork, such as an arrest report, and affects the cities of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Sacramento and Oakland.

Tagged:

Lawmakers last week introduced a plethora of rental housing-related bills, including legislation that would double the renters’ tax credit, mandate training for landlords, and help remove gun-owning tenants from apartment buildings. These are just some of the landlord-tenant related proposals introduced before the Feb 16 legislative filing deadline. The tax credit bill, SB 1182 by state Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, would increase the credit to $120 for renters filing their taxes as individuals and $240 for joint filers. It would be the first increase in the credit since 1979. “This increase is long overdue,” Glazer said in a statement. “The… Read More

Tagged:

Tenant advocates have filed preliminary paperwork to place a rent control measure before voters in the city of Sacramento. The initiative would amend the city charter to impose inflation-based rent control and “just cause” eviction policies in the capital city. Under the measure, the rent charged as of Feb. 20, 2018, would serve as the base rent. Maximum annual increases would then be tied to the consumer price index. The measure would also create a nine-member rent control board, require landlords to pay an annual rental housing fee, and establish relocation assistance for displaced tenants.

Tagged: Sacramento Valley

Question: I have an applicant for an apartment who informed me that she had bad credit because of her ex-husband’s irresponsibility. Her current employer has offered to cosign. Is this a good idea to accept him as a cosigner, and how would this be done? Answer: You should first determine whether or not you are going to have a policy of accepting applicants with bad credit on the condition they have a cosigner, in order to stay within fair housing laws.  You should then decide what criteria the cosigner must meet, such as credit history, income, residency in the local… Read More

Tagged:

San Mateo County supervisors Tuesday adopted an ordinance aimed at tackling substandard housing in unincorporated areas of the county. The ordinance makes permanent a one-year pilot program adopted by the Board of Supervisors last spring. That program required landlords to pay relocation assistance to tenants forced to vacate substandard housing units.

Tagged: Tri-County

Over the objections of CAA and its members, the Santa Cruz City Council on Tuesday imposed interim emergency rent control and just-cause eviction ordinances, effective immediately. Although most attendees objected during public testimony, the council voted to instate a temporary 2 percent cap on rent increases for all apartment buildings built before 1995, with exemptions for condos, townhouses and single-family homes. The council also approved a temporary just-cause ordinance that applies to all housing, including single-family homes and accessory-dwelling units. The only exemption to the just-cause ordinance is for those who own only one rental unit. Landlords with maintenance costs… Read More

Tagged: Tri-County