A month after a push to protect California tenants from no-fault evictions fizzled in the state Assembly, lawmakers revived the effort Monday.
But the new strategy — making eviction protections part of a statewide rent cap bill — already is facing push back from landlord interest groups. Now both measures face an uphill battle on their way to the governors desk.
“Millions of California renters are hanging on by a thread,” Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, wrote in a news release. “Both large rent increases and predatory evictions lead to displacement and exacerbate our homelessness crisis. Just as tenants deserve protection from arbitrary, predatory rent increases, they deserve protection from arbitrary, predatory evictions.”
Assembly Bill 1481, which would have required landlords to provide an approved reason, or “just cause,” before evicting a tenant, died in May after lawmakers realized they didnt have enough votes to carry the measure out of the Assembly.
On Monday, lawmakers announced that they were splicing their dead “just cause” bill onto a statewide rent cap proposal that still is marching through the legislative process.
Related: Whats just cause eviction and how does it work in rent control cities?
Landlord interest groups were quick to condemn the move.
“Just cause eviction policies have failed communities across California. As a result, there are thousands of empty housing units that are not available for rent because of these restrictions,” Sid Lakireddy, president of the California Rental Housing Association, wrote in an emailed statement. “We will be taking a step backwards with a policy that discourages development of new housing and will further worsen the housing crisis for Californians.”
Chius rent bill, Assembly Bill 1482, passed 43-28 in the Assembly in May. The new combined bill would cap rent hikes, even on properties not covered by existing rent control, at 7 percent per year plus inflation — which works out to a statewide average of about 9.5 percent. Now it also would prohibit a landlord from evicting a tenant of more than a year without providing “just cause” — such as failing to pay rent, breaking the lease agreement or creating a nuisance.
Only rental units that are 10 years old or older would be covered, and the bill would sunset after three years. Landlords who own 10 or fewer single-family homes would be exempt.
The California Apartment Association, which has opposed both AB 1481 and 1482 from the beginning, said the joint bills eviction protections will make it harder for landlords to remove bad tenants. Its not just a matter of having a good reason to evict someone — the landlord has to be able to prove it to a third party, spokesman Mike Nemeth wrote in an emailed statement. That can be challenging, particularly if the problem tenant is involved in illegal activity, and his or her neighbors are reluctant to testify about what theyve seen.
“Adding just cause to AB 1482 gives investors another reason to take their housing projects out of California,” Nemeth wrote. “At the same time, it will lead current rental property owners, especially mom-and-pop owners, to take their units off the market rather than have to navigate a costly, expensive and time-consuming process to evict a bad tenant.”
The measure now goes to the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 9. If it Read More – Source
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