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California Rent Control Bill Passes Key Hurdle
California’s rent cap measure, Assembly Bill 1482, cleared a key step in the state Legislature this week following an agreement with tenant advocates to change the proposed legislation. The Assembly passed the bill that would cap annual rent hikes statewide at 7% plus inflation, though it required a concession to limit the policy effective date to three years.
Developments built within the last 10 years would not fall under the new bill, and landlords with 10 or fewer single-family homes are exempt. Existing rules for residents in rent-controlled apartments are unaffected.
Opponents of rent control, such as the California Apartment Assn. and the California Assn. of Realtors, say rent restrictions discourage developers from building needed new supply amidst a growing statewide housing crisis.
“It defies logic that the state Legislature continues to advance rent cap legislation, which will worsen California’s housing shortage, while rejecting legislation that would actually promote new homes, like SB 50, which would prohibit bans on apartment construction near jobs centers and public transportation,” said Tom Bannon, CAA’s chief executive officer. “This push for statewide rent control also comes just months after voters resoundingly rejected Proposition 10, the statewide rent control measure on November’s ballot.
Advocates view the bill, authored by Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco), as a way to temporarily protect California tenants from steep rent increases. Assembly Bill 1482 must pass both legislative houses by mid-September.
Another key companion housing measure, AB 1481 by Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, and Assemblyman Tim Grayson, D-Concord, died on the Assembly floor because it didn’t have enough votes to advance to the Senate before this week’s deadline. The bill would have imposed just-cause eviction policies statewide.
Neither AB 1481 nor AB 1482 proposes changes to the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act.
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