News

Filter

Thanks to amendments from CAA, a newly signed law intended to curb illegal marijuana cultivation now offers law-abiding landlords protections against liability. Under AB 2164, cities can choose to immediately penalize individuals accused of violating local cannabis laws — without first getting a hearing or a chance to remedy the problem. As originally drafted, the bill would have unintentionally left innocent rental property owners vulnerable to immediate penalties without appeal.

Tagged:

Tenant activists have again fallen short in their quest to put rent control before voters in Santa Ana. On Monday, Tenants United Santa Ana submitted several boxes of petitions to the city clerk. It didn’t take long, however, for city officials to determine the petitions were lacking. Tenant advocates needed to file at least 9,854 signatures but submitted only 9,299.

Tagged: Orange County

Question: Do we have to take pictures of the apartment before a resident moves in? Answer: Although there is no legal requirement that you take pictures before a tenant moves in, it is a very smart thing to do, especially when you compare your pictures of what the premises looked like to when the tenant moved out.  It makes it easy for a judge to see the damage.  Just make sure your pictures are dated, including time of day, and are of good quality. Question: I rent a house to a married couple. I have found that they now have… Read More

Tagged:

An initiative to bring rent control to the city of Sacramento has qualified for the March 2020, however, a legal challenge could prevent the measure from ever appearing before voters. Last week, Sacramento election officials announced that rent control proponents had submitted the 36,817 valid voter signatures required to qualify the measure for the next general election.

Tagged: Sacramento Valley

Proponents of an initiative that would clean up Mountain View’s rent control law have submitted thousands of signatures in hopes of placing the measure before voters in November 2020. On Monday, Oct. 8, a coalition of local homeowners, housing providers and residents filed 7,422 signatures with the Mountain View city clerk. Since Measure V brought rent control to Mountain View in 2016, rental housing owners have responded by taking units off the market, making way for million-dollar condominiums. The proposed initiative would encourage owners to continue providing rental housing and protect Mountain View renters from displacement.

Tagged: Tri-County

Beginning next summer, landlords and other property owners will no longer be able to install automatic garage doors unless they have a battery backup function designed to operate during electrical outages. While property owners won’t need to proactively install new automatic garage doors, any replacement door installed on or after July 1, 2019, must have the battery backup feature. The bill also provides for a civil penalty of $1,000 for a garage door not installed in compliance with the law.

Tagged:

Landlords losing the ability to use Ratio Utility Billing Systems on San Jose’s rent-controlled housing have just a few weeks left to apply for a one-time offset. The petition period for the offset opened on July 5 and closes on Oct. 31. Any petition received after Oct. 31 will not be considered. If landlords currently using RUBS are granted an offset, they’ll be permitted to add a portion of their RUBS charge to the tenant’s monthly base rent.

Tagged: Tri-County

Question: Our new residents, who are college kids, are driving the neighbors crazy with their partying, and they are only one month into their one-year lease.  What kind of notice do I need to serve? Answer: If the disturbances are major and continuous, or if the police have to be called, you may be able to serve a three-day notice based upon nuisance and commence the unlawful detainer action if they fail to vacate pursuant to the notice.

Tagged:

In response to newly signed legislation, the California Apartment Association has updated its compliance paper on tenant protections in place for victims of domestic violence. The Industry Insight paper, “Domestic Violence & Human Trafficking,” has been revised to reflect the passage of AB 2413. The bill, by Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, will prohibit local agencies from penalizing property owners or residents if they call law enforcement to report domestic abuse or other crimes or emergencies at the property. The bill also will prohibit landlords from evicting or otherwise penalizing tenants simply because they call authorities to get help. The… Read More

Tagged:

The number of newspapers urging readers to reject Proposition 10 and preserve the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act continues to grow. In recent days, more than 15 newspapers took stances against Prop 10, which would bring extreme forms of rent control back to California. These newspapers include the Fresno Bee, Modesto Bee, Bakersfield Californian, San Francisco Business Times, Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, Palo Alto Daily Post, and La Opinión, the nation’s largest Spanish-language newspaper. Also joining the chorus against Prop 10 is the 11-newspaper Southern California Newspaper Group, which includes the Los Angeles Daily News, Orange County Register and the Riverside Press-Enterprise.… Read More

Tagged: