The most egregious provision of AB 828 by Assemblyman Phil Ting is gone.
The bill by the San Francisco Democrat no longer mandates that the courts reduce rent by 25%.
Ting removed that rent-cut provision from the bill following a grassroots opposition campaign spearheaded by the California Apartment Association. This included having members to send more than 55,000 opposition messages to lawmakers.
While rent-reduction provision is out, AB 828 still includes problematic provisions such as:
- Requiring very limited proof on the part of the tenant that they faced a COVID hardship in order to stay in the unit;
- Protecting nuisance tenants by allowing them to initially ignore the unlawful detainer complaint and remain the unit;
- Mandating that rental property owners demonstrate an economic hardship in order to collect the contracted rent timely.
AB 828 is an unfair attempt to allow the government and the courts to give extended tenancies to all renters — even those not facing economic hardships. Moreover, it still lacks any safeguards or protections for rental property owners.
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