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A former California Assembly speaker delivered a dinnertime speech. The state’s legislative analyst offered a bright economic forecast. And rental housing leaders took aim at California’s drought.
These are some of the highlights from the California Apartment Association’s first board meeting of 2014, held Thursday, Feb. 20.
On the eve of the meeting, CAA held its leadership dinner, with former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg as the guest speaker.
Now running for state Senate District 18, Hertzberg provided a boisterous speech that touched on a number of issues, from his own political background to the far-reaching influences of technology to how… Read More
Tagged: Leadership
The city of Anaheim on Tuesday unanimously approved a self-inspection program for multi-family housing, allowing property managers to examine apartments themselves — without paying inspection fees.
This represents a big improvement over Anaheim’s original proposal to charge property owners $16 per unit for city officials to handle the inspections.
After learning of this proposal last year, the California Apartment Association immediately began negotiations with the city.
Over a nine-month period, CAA’s South Coast/Orange County division successfully eliminated the fee and created the self-inspection program.
To show further support of CAA, the Anaheim City Council amended the ordinance during Tuesday’s meeting… Read More
Tagged: InspectionsLegislation Orange County
Foster City will likely ban smoking in most public places, but the city won’t regulate the habit on private property, including apartments.
During a study session Monday, the City Council told staff to proceed with an anti-smoking ordinance but to leave out multi-family and single-family homes. The vote was 4-1.
The California Apartment Association has been working with the city on the smoking ordinance since the idea came up in September.
At Monday’s session, CAA pointed out that renters increasingly demand smoke-free housing, and property owners are listening.
“Due to the fact that most multifamily building communities are voluntarily smoke-free,… Read More
Tagged: LegislationSmoking Tri-County
Question: Do I have to pay a tenant interest on his security deposit?
Answer: There are no state laws requiring that interest be paid on the tenant’s security deposit. However, some rent control ordinances and/or other local ordinances do require interest to be paid.
Question: We served a three-day notice to pay rent or quit. What is the latest date we could start an unlawful detainer without our three-day notice “becoming stale” and having to be re-served?
Answer: It depends on the facts of any given case, but the longer you wait, the more of an argument you are giving… Read More
AB 2405 (Ammiano, D-San Francisco)
This bill would convert all Ellis Act court filings to general civil actions; they would not fall under the usual expedited unlawful detainer eviction process as they now do. This means that Ellis Act proceedings if challenged by a tenant in court would take years to finalize. The clerk of the court would be prohibited from allowing the general public to access the court records filed in the Ellis Act civil case. The bill will also allow a city or county to completely prohibit use of the Ellis Act by owners if the city or… Read More
Tagged: Ellis Act
Jerry Jacoby is a fourth-generation San Franciscan who lives on Filbert Street in the Russian Hill neighborhood. He was born and raised off of San Bruno Avenue and attended Lowell High School.
Aside from serving two years in the Army in the Vietnam War, Jerry has spent his entire life in The City. He raised his four children in San Francisco and spent his working life at a number of jobs as an engineer, consultant and analyst for local firms from Levi’s to Fibreboard Paper to Matson. Jerry now survives on $12,000 each year in Social Security payments.
As a… Read More
Mellie Malcolmson was born in New Mexico and came to San Francisco at the end of the Second World War. She met her husband soon after arriving in The City, and they were married in 1962.
In 1965, Mellie and her husband bought a small, four-unit property on the 1100 block of Filbert Street in the Russian Hill neighborhood and planted roots. The Malcolmsons raised their son, James, on the third floor of their building on Filbert Street, where Mellie continues to live, and relied on the rent from the other apartments for their mortgage. James has lived his entire… Read More
San Francisco lawmakers have introduced a pair of bills that would hamper a property owner’s ability to quit the rental housing business.
In the crosshairs of both pieces of legislation is the state’s Ellis Act.
Senate Bill 1439 by Mark Leno would bar property owners from using the Ellis Act until they’ve owned a property for at least five consecutive years. Moreover, it would prohibit a property owner from using the act on more than one property.
About 40 property owners, many chanting in Mandarin and some holding “Keep Ellis Unchanged” signs, protested the legislation during a Leno press conference… Read More
Tagged: Ellis Act
As lawmakers rush to introduce bills by today’s deadline, the California Apartment Association’s public affairs team is busy analyzing legislation and preparing to take positions on key bills for the rental housing industry.
Stay tuned for news on which bills CAA will support and oppose during this legislative session.
Tagged: News
Republican mayoral candidate Kevin Faulconer — supported by the California Apartment Association — sailed to victory earlier this month in a run-off election to lead San Diego.
On Tuesday, Feb. 11, the 47-year-old former public relations executive won with 54 percent of the vote, compared with about 46 percent for Democratic opponent David Alvarez.
Faulconer’s triumph follows the resignation last year of Bob Filner, which set the stage for a classic political battle between unions and the business community.
The victory by Faulconer will make San Diego the largest city in the country run by a Republican mayor. Already, chatter… Read More
Tagged: Elections