Alfred TwuApr 7, 2023

A look at this year's California tenant protection bills - these include bills to limit rent increases, address habitability, provide subsidies, and limit evictions.

While some cities have local laws limiting rent increases, it wasn't until 2019 when California passed a statewide law - AB1482. That law limited increases to inflation+5% or 10% a year, whichever was less. Still adds up fast. #SB567 from Senator Durazo would lower the cap.

Existing CA law bans cities from limiting rents on anything built after 1995, or the cutoff date they had when it was passed. This keeps most big cities from rent controlling anything from the 1980s onward. #SB466 from Aisha Wahab would change it to a 15-year rolling cutoff. She is one of the few tenants in the 120-person State Legislature - great example of why representation matters.

#CALeg

Show threadAlfred TwuApr 7, 2023

CA law also limits rent control to tenants who stay in the same apartment. This means that many older & disabled tenants are stuck on upper floors of buildings without elevators.
Rick Chavez Zbur's #AB1620 would allow them to switch to a ground-flooor apartment at the same rent.

Affordable housing usually doesn't have to worry about gouging. However, because affordable rents are set based on Area Median Income - if an area gets rich, it causes affordable housing rents to rise. Mia Bonta's #AB846 would limit the increase.

Show threadAlfred Twu

Assemblymember Mia Bonta also has a bill, #AB887, to limit rent increases at floating home marinas (houseboats) in Marin, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties.

Low income renters who've filed taxes recently may recall a box about Renter's Tax Credit. It was $60 ($120 for a family) in 1979, and it's still just $60 today. There are two bills proposed to raise it. #SB569 from Steve Glazer would have it start increasing with inflation.

The other bill on Renters Tax Credit is #AB59 from Assemblymember Gallagher to up it to $1000 a year ($2000 for families). When intro'd this bill also extended the credit to cover the middle class, but was amended yesterday to a lower cutoff income.

There are also bills to address habitability issues - #AB468 and #AB548.

Apr 7, 2023 at 2:04amWeb
Show threadAlfred TwuApr 7, 2023

To address the issue of landlords filing evictions right before a long weekend to deny tenants the ability to find a lawyer, State Senator Ben Allen's #SB863 would change the 3-day eviction notice to 7 days.

Some cities have "crime-free housing" ordinances that require landlords to evict tenants who have been arrested, & sometimes their whole family. #AB1418 from Tina McKinnor would limit the most extreme of these ordinances.

#AB1218 from Assemblymember Lowenthal would extend and expand existing laws requiring relocation payments and replacement housing when an homes occupied by low income tenants or subject to rent caps / rent control is demolished.

To gather the data to better enforce state tenant protection laws, #SB395 from Aisha Wahab would require landlords to report evictions and rent increases to a central database.