News: SB
Filter
CAA-sponsored legislation to help both landlords and renters endure the financial difficulties brought on by COVID-19 is now in print.
Under SB 1410, the COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program, the state of California would make direct rental payments to help tenants who cannot afford to pay their rent. SB 1410 would cover at least 80% of unpaid rent attributable to the pandemic.
Eligible renters for the temporary COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program would include those who can demonstrate, as determined by the Department of Housing and Community Development, an inability to pay rent due to COVID-19 or a government response… Read More
Tagged: COVID-19LegislationNews
A newly introduced bill would allow local governments to seize corporate-owned properties that sit vacant for 90 days or more.
SB 1079 by Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, would authorize the use of eminent domain to acquire the unoccupied housing. It also would allow cities and counties to levy fines against the owner.
Tagged: News
Michael Weinstein and his AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the organization bankrolling a statewide radical rent control initiative, have been accused of violating multiple political finance laws while campaigning to defeat a major housing-production bill.
Earlier today, California YIMBY, which stands
for Yes In My Backyard, filed a formal complaint with the California Fair
Political Practices Committee. The complaint alleges that Weinstein ignored
well-established state reporting requirements in spending hundreds of thousands
of dollars to oppose SB 50 by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco.
The legislation, which died last month on the
Senate floor, would have allowed for expedited housing construction, including… Read More
Tagged: Proposition 10Rent Control
Senate Bill 50, this year’s most significant legislative attempt to address California’s housing shortage, died last week on the Senate floor.
The proposal by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, failed to garner the 21 votes needed to move from the Senate floor to the Assembly by Friday’s deadline.
Tagged: LegislationLegislature
The
stakes are certainly high this year for California’s rental housing industry.
In
2020, we can expect a radical rent control measure back on the statewide
ballot, an emboldened tenants’ movement at the state and local level, and the
prospects of another blue wave in the California Legislature.
In the paragraphs below, we’ll explore these and several other important housing issues to watch in 2020.
Gov. Gavin Newsom this
month signed more than a dozen CAA-backed bills intended to address California’s chronic housing shortage.
The bills will help
remove local barriers to housing construction, boost incentives for building
higher-density affordable housing, and make it easier and cheaper to add second
units to residential lots.
Gov. Gavin Newsom
“We’ve
invested more in new housing than at any point in our history, and we have
created powerful new tools to incentivize housing production,” Newsom said in this news
release. “Now, we are removing some key local barriers
to housing production. This crisis has been more than a… Read More
Gov. Gavin Newsom this week signed a statewide cap on rent increases, a mandatory Section 8 bill, and several other pieces of legislation that will change the way California’s rental housing industry does business in 2020.
Here are summaries of five game-changing bills signed by Newsom this week:
Statewide rent cap:AB 1482 by Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, will place an annual 5% plus CPI cap on rent increases and create new standards for evictions across California. The signing of AB 1482, officially the Tenant Protection Act of 2019, marks the most significant policy change for California’s rental housing owners… Read More
Tagged: Legislative SummaryNews
A bill taking effect Jan. 1 lowers the amount California landlords can collect for security deposits from members of the U.S. military.
Under SB 644 by Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, security deposits for active military are limited to one months’ rent for unfurnished units and two months’ rent for furnished ones.
Tagged: LegislationSecurity Deposits
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed a bill that will make it illegal to reject a prospective tenant solely based on the applicant’s use of a Section 8 federal housing voucher.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2020, SB 329 by Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, will ban blanket policies against taking Section 8 applicants and require landlords to treat voucher-holders like any other applicant. The law also will prohibit “No Section 8” advertisements.
Sen. Holly Mitchell
Throughout the legislative process, Mitchell
repeatedly stated that owners will retain the ability to reject voucher-holders
after giving them a fair vetting. The senator, however, refused… Read More
Tagged: LegislationNewsSection 8
Before adjourning for the year early
last Saturday morning, California lawmakers approved a number of bills with
serious implications for the rental housing industry.
Gov. Gavin Newsom
In the paragraphs below, we summarize the most significant of those proposals. Gov. Gavin Newsom now has until Oct. 13 to either sign or veto each of the following: