Landlords across San Diego County could face new, costly and time-consuming lawsuits after the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted to create a Consumer Fairness and Public Protection Unit.

The California Apartment Association opposed the move, saying the unit duplicates authority already held by the California attorney general, the district attorney and other agencies. In addition, the proposal does nothing to promote education to renters or consumers or business owners on their rights and responsibilities and instead encourages government funded attorneys to file lawsuits against private business owners.

CAA and other housing providers warned that adding another enforcement body could increase bureaucracy, blur jurisdictional lines and expose providers to more litigation. The San Diego County district attorney also raised concerns about overlap and redundancy and questioned whether the new unit would be an efficient use of public resources.

CAA said the proposal’s broad focus on alleged deceptive practices, algorithmic rent-setting and tenant screening creates a risk that lawful, routine housing operations could be pulled into enforcement actions. The association said that approach prioritizes litigation over education, compliance and housing production, questioning if the county was truly looking to encourage businesses to comply with the law or just file countless lawsuits to collect settlement fees that could fund county operations.

The unit is expected to employ up to 30 full-time staff within two years and cost $6.2 to $7.4 million per year at full operation, seeded with $30 million from a consumer fraud trust fund built largely from opioid litigation settlements. CAA and other business organizations will be monitoring the formation of the CFPP and how it operates to ensure it does not engage in frivolous litigation and create even more burdens and bureaucracy for housing providers.