News: Community Development

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Rental housing providers and residents can now begin applying for Covid-19-related rental assistance through the State of California. The program, administered by the California Department of Housing and Community Development, will pay landlords 80% of the past due rent owed between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021, by eligible households. The application process opened at 5 p.m. Monday, March 15, and is accessible through this online portal. The rental assistance money comes from a pandemic-recovery package approved by Congress late last year. It includes $1.4 billion that went to the state, while $1.2 billion headed to “entitlement districts,” which… Read More

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A newly released survey highlights the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on California’s “mom and pop” landlords. The report comes from the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals and UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation. “The results of the survey are sobering,” Ben Metcalf, managing director of the Terner Center, writes in this web post. “The majority of survey respondents — more than 80% of whom own or manage buildings with fewer than 20 units — reported a decline in their rental income compared to the first quarter of the year. We should all be worried that one… Read More

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The clock is ticking for a number of CAA-backed housing-supply and homelessness bills. After returning from their summer recess this week, lawmakers placed each of the proposals outlined below on suspense file, meaning the legislation has been set aside so it can be considered for its financial impact on the state and may or may not get another hearing before the year is through. The California Apartment Association urges lawmakers to quickly move the following bills out of suspense and back on the path toward Gov. Newsom’s desk. The deadline for legislators to approve bills this year is Sept. 12,… Read More

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Employing a new law supported by CAA, the Newsom Administration has sued a Southern California city for allegedly stifling the production of low-income housing. On Jan. 25, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his approval of legal action against Huntington Beach, claiming that the city in Orange County has squelched the construction of affordable housing while also refusing to meet regional housing needs. “The state doesn’t take this action lightly,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in this news release. “The huge housing costs and sky-high rents are eroding quality of life for families across this state. California’s housing crisis is an existential threat… Read More

Tagged: Orange County

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.

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The California Department of Housing and Community Development on Thursday released the official list of cities that will have their housing approvals streamlined under SB 35, a bill supported by the California Apartment Association and authored last year by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco.

Tagged: Sacramento Valley

Pro-housing bills backed by the California Apartment Association made healthy strides this week in the Legislature. On Wednesday alone, four housing bills — either sponsored or co-sponsored by CAA — advanced from their respective committees. The following proposals advanced from the Assembly Local Government Committee to the Appropriations Committee: AB 2299 (Bloom) would mandate that local governments allow for the construction of second units on residential lots if those units meet specific standards and are located within one-half mile of public transportation. Sponsored by CAA. AB 2501 (Bloom) would make it faster, easier and more economical for developers to obtain… Read More

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If you plan to place a single-family home on the rental market, you may want to do it before the end of this year. Under a bill by Assemblyman Ian Calderon, areas throughout California would limit the number of single-family homes used mainly as rental properties. The bill wouldn’t affect homes intermittently available for rent. Calderon, D-Whittier, frames the bill as a way to promote the “American dream of family home ownership by maintaining and, over time, increasing the market of homes that are available for purchase.” The legislation, however, would limit the already scarce availability of rental housing in… Read More

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A bill intended to give renters the right to hang clotheslines outside their apartments is now far less onerous, thanks to amendments requested by the California Apartment Association. The revised AB 1448 by Assemblywoman Patty Lopez, D-San Fernando, advanced Tuesday from the Assembly Judiciary Committee by a 6 to 3 vote. It heads to the Committee on Housing and Community Development on May 13. Under revisions to the bill, the placement of clotheslines outside apartments is subject to landlord approval. The landlord, for example, could reject a tenant’s request to place a clothesline in an area that causes an eyesore.

Tagged: Los Angeles

Legislation that would curtail a landlord’s ability to check a prospective tenant’s criminal background before signing a lease gained momentum this week in the California Assembly. AB 369 by Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, now heads to the Appropriations Committee after passing the Committee of Housing and Community Development on Wednesday by a 4-to-2 vote. The author has cited four goals with AB 396: To reduce recidivism rates by providing stable housing. To keep families together. To prevent homelessness. To prohibit unfair discrimination that is based upon reasons that have no bearing on the success of a tenancy. The bill… Read More

Tagged: Los Angeles