About 50 protesters stormed the headquarters of the California Apartment Association in Sacramento on the morning of Monday, May 16, shaking their fists and demanding rent control.

Shortly past 11:15 a.m., activits wearing yellow shirts barged into CAA’s downtown suite, chanting “Greedy landlords, you can’t hide!”

The demonstrators, arriving unannounced from the Los Angeles-based Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, then clustered shoulder-to-shoulder outside the office of Chief Executive Officer Tom Bannon.

Within moments, Bannon opened his door and calmly made his way through the chanting throng.

Once Bannon reached the middle of the crowd, a representative of the group provided the CEO with a letter of demands, including support of rent control and the repeal of Costa Hawkins and the Ellis Act.

Asked if CAA would support rent control, Bannon explained that rent control is a failed policy that hasn’t built one new unit of housing. On why Costa Hawkins is important, Bannon pointed out that if rent control were permitted on new development, builders wouldn’t invest in new housing, exacerbating the affordability problem.

Although Bannon continued to answer questions, many protesters booed, and some resumed shouting. About five minutes into the meeting, organizers said it was time to move on to the next target on their list.

As the protesters exited CAA’s suite, several shook Bannon’s hand and thanked him for hearing them out. Others chanted “We’ll be back!”

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