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In the wake of the wildfires that have ravaged both Northern and Southern California, the rental housing industry has stepped up in multiple ways to help fire victims recover. In the paragraphs below, we’ve assembled a list of resources currently available for fire victims, including displaced tenants seeking a place to live. We’ve also highlighted some of the ways the rental housing industry and industry partners have already helped in the recovery effort.  Rental housing providers Southern California Alliance Residential Co. is assisting those affected by the California wildfires by providing access to short-term leases and discounted furniture rental rates.… Read More

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After many years of service to the rental housing industry, Jane McGinnis announced her retirement from the California Apartment Association.  CAA will host a reception on December 13th. Jane is widely respected as a property management instructor and advisor. She served as the Director of Education of the Rental Housing Association of Sacramento Valley for over 15 years. Following the merger of RHA and CAA earlier this year, she continued to write and teach classroom courses. Over the years, Jane wrote dozens of property management courses, taught hundreds of classes, and trained thousands of rental owners, property managers, maintenance staff… Read More

Tagged: Sacramento Valley

Question: I would be interested in knowing what to do when a resident is demanding a repair be made inside of their apartment, but at the same time is demanding that none of the on-site maintenance staff complete the repair. Do we hire an outside vendor or must the resident allow the staff that is available to complete the repair? Answer: You should find out the reason the resident does not want on-site staff to do the repair.  You have the right to choose who should do the repairs for your apartment units.

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The Citrus Heights City Council has approved an ordinance establishing a new rental housing inspection program to preserve the aging supply of housing in the city and ensure that owners properly maintain their properties. The California Apartment Association successfully negotiated several changes to the initial proposal resulting in lower fees and the opportunity for self-certification. Citrus Heights has over 15,000 rental units, with 90 percent built prior to 1990. In a report to the council, city staff expressed concern that the rapid building of housing in the 1970s and 1980s resulted in a lack of quality control and the use… Read More

Tagged: Sacramento Valley

A recent report from Concord city staff lauds the city’s current rent-review and multifamily-inspection programs for helping renters stay in their homes and improving their living conditions. The staff report, presented to the City Council on Nov. 27, highlights the mediation program’s success rate. Since the inception of the rent-review program in June 2017, the city has received 25 cases, two of which are pending. Of the 23 closed mediation cases, 83 percent reached a positive resolution to the disputes, with tenants receiving a lower rent increase than originally offered, or with tenants staying in their residence. The city’s analysis… Read More

Tagged: Contra Costa

Gov. Jerry Brown has extended protections against price-gouging — including rent increases over 10 percent — for several counties devastated by wildfires that occurred between fall 2017 and this past summer. Brown’s order, issued on Nov. 28, keeps California’s anti-price gouging protections in effect through May 31, 2019, for Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Santa Barbara, Shasta, Siskiyou and Sonoma counties. The protections tied to these counties had been scheduled to expire Tuesday, Dec. 4. The order also names Ventura County, although this jurisdiction already was under extended price-gouging protections until November 2019 related to the Woolsey fire.

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The California Apartment Association is pleased to announce the results from the 2019 CAA Board of Directors’ election. Voting for the 2019 CAA Board of Directors opened on Nov. 6, 2018, and closed on Nov. 20, 2018, at which time CAA President Joe Lawton and CAA Secretary Adam Goldfarb, CPM, were notified of the results. In accordance with the CAA Bylaws, directors serve a term of three years and regional representatives serve a term of two years; newly elected directors will begin their terms on Jan. 1, 2019. 2019 newly elected members of the CAA Board of Directors representing specific… Read More

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Over the objections of CAA, the Glendale City Council this week approved a temporary cap on rent increases. The interim rent control measure, which applies to pre-1995 multifamily housing, takes effect Dec. 27 and expires Feb. 27, 2019, although the City Council may extend it. The measure will roll back rents to whatever rate was charged as of Sept. 18 of this year. Annual rent increases will then be capped at 5 percent while the city’s rent freeze is in place. For tenancies that start after Sept. 18, rents may not increase by more than 5 percent above the initial… Read More

Tagged: Los Angeles

Long Beach is crafting a proposal that would require all new residential developments to include a certain percentage of affordable housing. The city will seek public comment on the inclusionary housing proposal during meetings scheduled for Dec. 5 and Dec. 8. These meetings result from council direction earlier this year to boost the inventory of units dedicated to low-income individuals and families. CAA encourages members interested in this subject to attend the upcoming meetings and provide feedback. To view a flier on the community meetings, click here.

Tagged: Long BeachLos Angeles

After several community meetings, the Long Beach City Council on Tuesday will review options for regulating short-term rentals, including those promoted with online home-sharing platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway. All three options being considered on Dec. 4 have multifamily implications and would require operators of short-term rentals to register with the city. Each option, however, also includes a provision to allow rental housing providers to opt out of the program by deciding upfront not to allow short-term rentals on their properties. Option 2, which is recommended by city staff, deals with short-term rentals in two types of units —… Read More

Tagged: Long BeachLos Angeles