In the first half of 2018, California lawmakers considered a number of bills that were threatening to the rental housing industry, including proposals to repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, impose statewide “just cause” eviction policies, and mandate a training program for landlords.

At the same time, legislators considered positive legislation that would boost residential construction, leverage marijuana tax money to confront homelessness, and give renters a boost come tax time.In the paragraphs below, we’ll review some of the best and worst housing-related legislation of the year so far.

For the positive bills, we’ll summarize legislation supported by the California Apartment Association and still working their way toward the governor’s desk. With the negative bills, we’ll review legislation that CAA either stopped or vastly improved.

Let’s start with the year’s most onerous proposal, Assembly Bill 1506.

Effort to repeal Costa-Hawkins

AB 1506 by Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Los Angeles, would have repealed the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act and brought radical rent control back to California.

For more than 20 years, the Costa-Hawkins Act has prohibited local governments from …


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