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A bill that would require landlords to pay interest on security deposits advanced Tuesday from the Senate Judiciary Committee and is headed for the Senate floor for a vote as early as next week.
The legislation, SB 603 by Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, does not make financial sense for tenants or landlords.
Under SB 603, a tenant would receive less money in interest than the costs incurred by his or her landlord to account for and return the security deposit.
Along with the requirement for interest payments, the bill includes a second troubling proposal: With no consideration for the owner’s… Read More
Tagged: LegislationSecurity Deposits
A CAA-opposed bill that would have encouraged jury trials in eviction cases — greatly delaying a landlord’s ability to speedily eject a nonpaying tenant — failed in the Assembly Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, May 7, and cannot return until at least next year.
AB 969 by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, focused on cases in which a tenant claims he or she withheld rent because a landlord failed to make repairs to an apartment.
Under current law, a tenant already can use this argument in court to fight an eviction. The tenant, however, must be current on rent to do… Read More
Tagged: CourtsEvictionsLegislation
If it were the Giants vs. the A’s, we’d be headed for extra innings.
But we’re talking apartments here, and when it comes to the pace of rental revenue growth, the cities are in a dead heat for first place.
For the first quarter of 2013, Oakland and San Francisco were even for annual rent growth among the nation’s largest markets, according to propertymanagementinsider.com.
A judicial panel has rescheduled oral arguments in Stanford University vs. Christine Marie Ham, a case that threatens to make evictions more difficult and time-consuming.
California’s Sixth District Court of Appeal will hear the arguments at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 14, at 333 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose.
In the case, Ham, an ex-tenant at Stanford, argues that the University did not take sufficient steps to reach her in person before posting eviction paperwork on her front door and mailing them to her rental unit.
A process server for Stanford made five attempts — at different times and days… Read More
The Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee today stubbed out a bill by Assemblyman Marc Levine that would have banned smoking in apartments, condos and townhomes.
“Assembly Bill 746 would have created an enforcement nightmare for property managers while infringing on the privacy rights of law-abiding tenants,” said Debra Carlton, senior vice president of public affairs for the California Apartment Association. “We also want to remind Californians that property owners already have the right, thanks to legislation we sponsored, to ban smoking at individual properties.”
Tagged: In the newsLegislationSmoking
A bill that would require landlords to pay interest on security deposits advanced Tuesday from the Senate Judiciary Committee and is headed for the Senate floor for a vote as early as next week. The legislation, SB 603 by Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, does not make financial sense for tenants or landlords. Under SB 603, […]
Tagged: In the newsInvestment
This USA Today video explores some of the new high-tech tools for wirelessly spreading music throughout the rooms of a house.
See how a tablet computer playing a song in one room sends the sounds of a folksy tune — sans wires — to an upstairs kitchen.
Are luxury apartment owners installing these types of entertainment systems as perks for prospective high-end tenants?
A statewide coalition will work to educate California opinion leaders and the public about the devastating impacts of increasing property taxes, the group announced today.
The coalition, Californians to Stop Higher Property Taxes, will inform lawmakers and the public about the importance of Proposition 13’s protections for California families and small businesses. The California Apartment Association is a member of the coalition.
To that end, the group, including organizations that represent businesses and taxpayers, will provide studies, analyses and other information.
A key goal is to raise awareness about how proposals for higher property taxes, including “split roll” and parcel… Read More
Tagged: LegislationLegislature
The California Apartment Association today continues its property management webinars with its third installment: “Resident Issues & Ending the Tenancy (PMR102).”
The course teaches property management professionals to successfully interact with people and learn to handle residents’ requests, as well as special issues for the disabled.
Also, learn about terminating tenancy, identifying normal wear-and-tear, as opposed to damages, and dealing with security deposits.
Further, gain a greater understanding of how an agreement can be terminated.
The courses are divided into a pair of 90-minute sessions spread over two afternoons.
The first session of “Resident Issues & Ending the Tenancy (PMR102)”… Read More
The California Apartment Association and state Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, believe legislation spelling this out is necessary — and would help prevent all too frequent scams associated with the practice.
In addition to requiring those who offer prepaid rental listings to hold a real estate license, Hill’s SB 269 would mandate that those selling prepaid rental lists include their real estate license number on contracts with prospective tenants.
A prospective tenant might want to buy a prepaid rental list to avoid the time and hassle of searching through classified ads, scouring Craigslist, searching rental-housing websites — and even driving… Read More