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California Rent-Cutting Bill Postponed
California AB 828, a bill that would authorize the California courts to cut rents by 25%, won’t get a hearing until at least the summer. The bill landed in the Senate Rules Committee last week, which means any possibility of a hearing will be postponed for several weeks.
The California Apartment Association led a grassroots campaign to defeat the measure. In recent weeks, more than 55,000 messages opposing the bill have flooded lawmakers’ inboxes.
If passed, AB 828 would:
- Allow the courts to force landlords to reduce rents by 25% — even if a tenant cannot show a COVID-19 hardship or need.
- Allow the courts to set rents and change rental agreements already in place.
- Assume every tenant is facing a COVID-19 hardship and must be compensated for it.
- Protect nuisance tenants because the bill does not require tenants to answer an unlawful detainer complaint.
- Mandate that rental property owners demonstrate an economic hardship to collect the contracted rent.
- Allow the government and courts to give reduced rent and extended tenancies to all renters, even those not facing economic hardships. At the same time, it provides no safeguards for landlords.
For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Dennis Kaiser
