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A wide range of bills proposed in the state Legislature this year take aim at California’s dearth of affordable housing.
The proposals, consistent with recent recommendations from the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, would provide dollars to build housing and homeless shelters, while lifting obstacles to private residential construction.
The following pro-housing bills supported by the California Apartment Association would:
Bring more units to new projects
AB 1934 (D-Santiago) would clarify that a local government may issue a density bonus (allowing for more units in a project) to commercial developers when they include affordable housing as a component of their… Read More
Tagged: Affordable housingLegislature
According to one lawmaker, a law already requiring property owners to have low-flow plumbing fixtures installed by 2019 doesn’t go far enough.
Sen. Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, has proposed legislation to require plumbing fixtures conserve more water than mandated by an existing Jan. 1, 2019 deadline, and he’s adding more fixtures to the list.
The current law demands water-conserving fixtures for residential, multi-family, and commercial properties. Fixtures that don’t comply must be replaced.
Hertzberg’s SB 1173, however, changes the definitions of noncompliant plumbing fixtures.
The bill calls for the replacement of the following:
Toilets that use more than 1.28 gallons… Read More
Tagged: LegislationNews
Should Section 8 voucher holders be considered a new protected class under California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act? The plaintiff in Morris v. Sacramento Manor thinks so.
In that case, the tenancy was terminated when the owner decided not to participate in the Section 8 program anymore.
The tenant argues that Section 8 recipients should be considered a new protected class under the Unruh Act’s prohibition against any arbitrary discrimination.
Unlike most anti-discrimination laws, which protect only specific enumerated classes, California’s Unruh Act has been interpreted to prohibit any “arbitrary” discrimination.
Courts have previously found discrimination based on the following categorizations… Read More
Property owners would have to rent to Section 8 voucher holders under legislation proposed by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco.
The California Apartment Association will oppose the legislation, SB 1053, which would make it unlawful to deny housing based on an applicant receiving Section 8 assistance.
The voucher program requires that owners and operators abide by federal regulations that differ from state and local laws. Moreover, it forces owners to work with a third party, the local housing agency. Many owners and managers believe that local housing agencies and their complex rules and regulations compromise the performance and financial viability… Read More
Tagged: LegislationSection 8
Rental property owners in San Jose would face a more stringent cap on annual rent increases under draft recommendations released by the city’s housing department.
Housing officials Tuesday recommended moving from the current 8 percent limit on annual rent increases to a model based on the rate of inflation.
Under the Housing Department’s recommendations, the annual allowable rent increase would be 100 percent of the consumer price index with a floor of 2 percent and a ceiling of 8 percent.
“City staff is proposing the most punitive form of rent control possible … that will only make the (housing) problem… Read More
CAA has expressed concerns in a letter to the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment about the office’s proposed changes to regulations interpreting the state law commonly referred to as Proposition 65.
OEHHA’s proposed changes to Proposition 65 warning requirements would force rental housing owners and managers to replace all existing warning materials and signs to avoid litigation. The California Apartment Association outlined its concerns to OEHHA last month.
To date, more than 73,000 metal and plastic warning signs have been provided by CAA to its members.
Moreover, the changes would not provide more useful or meaningful warnings for housing… Read More
Tagged: Proposition 65
The California Apartment Association this year is sponsoring four state bills to help increase the state’s housing supply, a fair and economically proven way to lower housing costs.
CAA’s four housing-production bills come as California contends with several years of climbing home and rental prices, driven primarily by an imbalance between new jobs and new residential development in regions where employment has boomed.
Encouraging residential development via the Legislature also offers reasonable alternatives to rent control and other ill-conceived policies. Providing sensible solutions in Sacramento is urgent as a growing number of local governments consider rent control, rent mediation and… Read More
Tagged: Legislation
Marin County supervisors abandoned plans for a just-cause eviction ordinance this month, opting instead for CAA-supported alternatives, including voluntary rent guidelines and a landlord-incentives program.
The decision came Feb. 9 as the county board explored various policy options to preserve affordable housing and prevent resident displacement.
Heading into the meeting, the California Apartment Association North Coast objected to two ordinances under consideration. One of them, a just-cause eviction measure, would require rental owners to prove “cause” in court or, in some cases, before a political body whenever needing to remove a problem resident. The other would enforce source-of-income protection.
In… Read More
In light of the burgeoning medical marijuana industry in California, CAA will pursue legislation this year clarifying that landlords can prohibit the smoking of marijuana by tenants in apartments, just as they can ban the smoking of tobacco products.
The California Apartment Association’s bill comes amid conflicting marijuana laws at the federal, state and local levels that have created challenges for both landlords and tenants.
One of the most prolific problems rental property owners face today is the tenant who uses marijuana with a valid medical card. Many neighboring tenants complain that smoking marijuana is a nuisance and that it… Read More
Tagged: LegislationLegislature