As the halfway point of 2014 approaches, the California Apartment Association has accomplished much in the legislative arena, yet much work lies ahead.
Friday was a milestone of sorts in the Legislative calendar, marking the deadline for bills to pass out of their house of origin.
In other words, as of midnight May 30, Senate bills had to pass the Senate, and Assembly bills had to pass the Assembly. Bills that survived now go to the opposite house. Those that didn’t are dead.
Below, you’ll find the status of some key bills for the rental housing industry. Let’s start with some bad bills that CAA’s public affairs team helped bury. Leading the list? An assault on property owners’ rights.
Bad bills that died
AB 2405 – Ellis Act by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, would have, in its original form, converted all Ellis Act court filings to general civil actions. This means they would not have fallen under the usual expedited unlawful detainer eviction process as they now do. The bill also would have allowed a city or county to prohibit the use of the Ellis Act by owners if the city or county has failed to identify, or make available, adequate sites to build low‐ and moderate‐income housing to satisfy its portion of the regional housing need.
AB 969 – Jury Trials by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, would have done two things: It would have created an assumption that a tenant was justified in withholding rent to make repairs that the landlord had failed to do. It would also have made it easier for a tenant to claim “retaliation” if the landlord moved forward with an eviction when a tenant withheld rent to make repairs. Finally, it would have encouraged jury trials in eviction cases by adding the term “jury” to the code sections that govern housing habitability.
Good bills that survived
AB 2280 — Community Revitalization by Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, would allow certain “disadvantaged” areas of California to create a new entity called a Community Revitalization Investment Authority. A CRIA would invest a property tax increment of consenting local agencies, other than schools, and other available funding to increase employment opportunities, reduce high crime rates, repair deteriorating and inadequate infrastructure and promote affordable housing.
AB 2451 – Water Submeters by Assemblyman Tom Daly, D-Anaheim. In response to the challenges rental property owners face in California when it comes to obtaining water submeters for their properties, AB 2451 intends to do the following:
- Allow submeters to be tested in one county and used in another county.
- Allow approved submeters to be stockpiled for a period of time, and installed when needed.
- Assure that testing fees are allocated to the county where submeters are tested.
- Clarify that submeters are “placed in service” when they are installed and operating.
- Determine the proper disposal and use of submeters that fail county testing; destruction by county officials is the current practice.
Good bills that died
SB 391 – California Homes and Jobs Act by Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, proposed a $75 fee on some recorded documents to permanently fund the development, acquisition, rehabilitation and preservation of homes affordable to low- and moderate-income households, including emergency shelters, transitional and permanent rental housing, foreclosure mitigation, and homeownership opportunities. The $75 fee would not have applied to the recording of documents connected with the sale of real property.
AB 2508 – Unlawful Detainer Eviction Delay by Assemblyman Steve Fox, D-Palmdale, would have required a tenant in an eviction case to state facts supporting his or her habitability defense to an unlawful detainer action. The tenant would also be required to state whether funds are available to satisfy a potential judgment in favor of the landlord for payment of rent. Under this bill, a general denial on the part of the tenant would have been prohibited in unlawful detainer cases.
AB 1510 – Tax Credits: Seismic Safety by Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian, D-Burbank, would have allowed, beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2015, a tax credit in an amount equal to 30 percent of the qualified costs paid or incurred by a qualified taxpayer for the seismic retrofit of a qualified building.
AB 2175 – Renters’ Tax Assistance Act by Assemblyman Tom Daly, D-Anaheim. This bill, sponsored by CAA, would have provided the equivalent of a tax credit to low-income renters.
Bad bills that survived
SB 1439 – Ellis Act by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, proposes to change state law, authorizing the city and county of San Francisco to prohibit an owner of residential rental property from withdrawing rental units from the market unless the owner of the property has owned the building for five continuous years or more.
AB 2416 – Liens: Employees by Assemblyman Mark Stone, D-Scotts Valley, would allow any employee, governmental agency, or anyone “authorized by the employee to act on the employee’s behalf” to file liens on an employer’s real property or any property where an employee “performed work” for an alleged, yet unproven, wage claim.
SB 1021 – Parcel Taxes by Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, would overturn a court case that prohibits school districts from imposing different parcel tax rates on different types of property. This bill authorizes a school district to impose tax assessments within a district based on characteristics such as the size of the parcel, the size of improvements to the parcel, or the use of a parcel. If passed, school districts could impose a different parcel tax on a single-family home than they charge on apartments and commercial property.
