The California Apartment Association today mobilized its members to fight a pair of bills that would jeopardize their ability to be quality housing providers.
CAA asked the state’s rental housing owners and operators to send letters to the state Assembly urging no votes on AB 854, the “Stay in Business Forever Act”; and AB 1188, the “Public Landlord-Tenant Registry” bill.
AB 854 by Assemblyman Alex Lee, D-San Jose, takes aim at California’s Ellis Act, a law that protects a landlord’s right to leave the rental housing business. Lee’s proposal would prohibit rental housing providers from using the Ellis Act to terminate tenancies and exit the rental market until all owners of the property have held their ownership interest for five years or more. It also would prohibit owners from attempting to ever remove a second building from the market.
“This law forces you to stay in business forever, prohibits you from moving into the building with your family, and prevents conversion of units into ownership housing like condominiums or tenancies in common,” CAA told its members in a mobilization email.
AB 1188 by Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, and Assemblyman Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, would require cities and counties to create and administer a rental registry and online portal designed to receive specified information from landlords who own or operate five or more rental dwellings.
The bill would require landlords to provide a variety of information regarding the location of rental property, its ownership, and its occupancy, among other things. It also would prohibit a landlord from issuing various notices to increase the rent or terminate a tenancy unless the landlord has submitted a form on the online portal.
“This registry would be open to the public and expose sensitive information on the property owner, their residents, and their rent levels to other tenants, activists, and the government,” CAA’s mobilization message says. “Tell the state Assembly to reject these attacks on rental housing providers. These bills will not create new housing or make housing more affordable.”
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