OAKLAND, CA (KMJ) – Governor Gavin Newsom on a statewide tour, signs laws addressing the housing crisis in the Golden State.
On Tuesday, surrounded by dozens of legislative leaders, working families and rent advocates in Oakland, the Governor signed into law a series of bills that will address issues faced by renters.
He says it will fight what he calls a key cause of the state’s housing crisis – rent gouging and evictions.
Central to the package is AB 1482 by Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San Francisco) to establish a 5 percent annual rent cap, plus inflation, coupled with just-cause protections – Newsom calls it the strongest renter protections in the nation.
“About a third of California renters pay more than half of their income to rent and are one emergency away from losing their housing,” said Governor Newsom. “One essential tool to combating this crisis is protecting renters from price-gouging and evictions. The bills signed into law today are among the strongest in the nation to protect tenants and support working families.”
Newsom touched on President Trump’s recent comments about the homeless problem in California; “but he wasn’t wrong to highlight the issue, wasn’t wrong to highlight a vulnerability. He’s exploiting it. That’s the difference between you and the President of the United States.”
Passing a strong renter protection package was a top priority for the Governor.
Newsom’s investing $1.75 billion in new housing in the state budget, with $20 million for legal services for renters facing eviction.
The new law does not apply to housing built within the last 15 years — and exempts single family homes — except those owned by corporations or real estate investment trusts.
It also does **not** cover owner-occupied duplexes — and expires in 2030.
Governor Newsom will continue his rent and housing tour with stops in San Diego and Los Angeles Wednesday.
He will take action on bills intended to spur housing production.
MORE DETAILS:
• SB 329 by Senator Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) prohibits landlords from discriminating against tenants who rely upon housing assistance paid directly to landlords, such as a Section 8 voucher, to help them pay rent.
• SB 222 by Senator Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) underscores that housing discrimination on account of military or veteran status is unlawful in California by explicitly stating so within the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). In addition, by defining a Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) voucher as a source of income for purposes of FEHA, the bill prohibits landlords from discriminating against a tenant on the basis that the tenant pays part or all of the rent using a VASH voucher.
• AB 1110 by Assemblymember Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) requires landlords to give 90 days’ notice to a tenant before imposing rent increases of more than 10 percent.
• AB 1399 by Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) closes a loophole in the Ellis Act wherein landlords evict all the tenants from rent-stabilized units in a property, claiming they are leaving the rental market, when they have no plans for the property and are actually trying to raise rent in the stabilized units. The bill clarifies that once any unit is returned to the rental market, the entire property is considered back on the rental market.
• SB 644 by Senator Steven Glazer (D-Orinda) lowers the amount that a landlord can charge service members for a security deposit on residential rental housing.
• AB 1487 by Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San Francisco) establishes the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority, which will increase affordable housing by providing for enhanced funding and technical assistance at a regional level for new affordable housing production, affordable housing preservation, and tenant protection.
Click to hear the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern:
