CalRHA April 2022 Policy Update

Eviction Moratorium Extension

Over the last month, CalRHA participated in negotiations with the Legislature during their consideration of extending the eviction moratorium beyond the sunset of March 31, 2022. They were considering extending the eviction moratorium through the end of August. In the end, the deal was amended into AB 2179 (Grayson). The bill extends for three more months, through June 30, 2022, two components of AB 832: (1) protections against eviction for nonpayment of rent, but only in cases where an application for emergency rental assistance to cover the unpaid rent was pending as of March 31, 2022; and (2) preemption of additional local protections against eviction for nonpayment of rent that were not in place on August 19, 2020. This preemption includes the local eviction moratoriums for Covid-19 related nonpayment of rent in: Los Angeles County, San Francisco, Fresno, etc. The bill passed the Legislature and was signed into law last week. CalRHA voiced opposition to the bill due to its impact on rental housing providers who have been providing housing in California, oftentimes with no rent, nor any rent assistance. Immediately following enactment, the Attorney General posted the following statement, reminding tenants of the protection.

Legislative Update

Policy committee hearings have been proceeding. Notably, the Wicks vaccine mandate, AB 1993, was pulled by the author and is no longer moving this year. Additionally, several bills have been amended and are now priority bills, including, but not limited to, a bill to create a $500 excise tax, a new Ellis Act bill, and TOPA legislation. It is safe to say we are facing more onerous bills this year than over the last few years. It promises to be a busy year indeed. Below, please find several key bills that CalRHA has been engaged on to date.

• AB 916 (Salas) - Sponsored ADU Bill - SUPPORT - Pending in Senate
• AB 1710 (Lee) - Light pollution - Would circumvent the Building Standards Commission and seek to legislate residential and light emitting diodes (LED) that create “light pollution” at night - OPPOSED
• AB 1738 (Boerner Horvath) - EV Charging stations - Would require mandatory building standards for the installation of electric vehicle charging stations existing multifamily dwellings - OPPOSED
• AB 1721 (Rodriguez) - Seismic Retrofit Funding for Softstory Multifamily Housing - SUPPORT - Passed Assembly Emergency Management Committee
• AB 1738 (Boerner Horvath) - EV Charging Station Mandate in Existing Buildings - OPPOSED
• AB 1771 (Ward) - 25% Transfer Tax - OPPOSED
• AB 1791 (Nazarian) - $500 Excise Tax on Residential Units - OPPOSED
• AB 1858 (Quirk-Silva) - Substandard Buildings - Would include violation of municipal codes. Would authorize a court to order a different amount of relocation compensation based on equity in order to adequately compensate a tenant for relocation costs and temporary living expenses during the repairs. - OPPOSED
• AB 2021 (Wicks) - Property Tax Sales to Nonprofits: First Right of Refusal - OPPOSED
• AB 2050 (Lee) - Ellis Act - Is a reintroduction of the Ellis Act bill killed earlier this year on the Assembly Floor - OPPOSED
• AB 2053 (Lee) - Social Housing Act - Creates the Social Housing Act and would establish the quasi-governmental authority, California Housing Authority, to produce and acquire social housing developments for the purpose of eliminating the gap between housing production and regional housing needs. - OPPOSED
• AB 2203 (Rivas) - Credit Report in Rental Housing Application - Would prohibit requiring a consumer credit report as part of the application process for a rental housing accommodation in instances where there is a government rent subsidy. - OPPOSED
• AB 2290 (Carillo) Unlawful Detainer Cases - Would limit access to records and require reporting - OPPOSED
• AB 2383 (Jones Sawyer) - Ban the Box in Rental Applications - Would make it a discriminatory housing practice for the owner of a rental housing accommodation to inquire about, or require an applicant for a rental housing accommodation to disclose, a criminal record during the initial application assessment phase. - OPPOSED
• AB 2469 (Wicks) - Rent Registry - Would create a rent registry to collect information from landlords including, the address and owners of a rental property, the number and type of rooms in the rental property, and information related to the payments collected and the duration of tenancies. - OPPOSED
• AB 2710 (Kalra) - Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act - OPPOSED
• AB 2713 (Wicks, Bloom, and Grayson) - This bill would revise owner occupy just-cause termination to good faith intent to occupy by the owner or owner’s spouse, domestic partner, children, grandchildren, parents, or grandparents for at least 3 consecutive years. The bill would prohibit an owner from terminating a tenancy if the owner or relative already occupies a unit at the property or if there is a vacancy at the property. - OPPOSED
• SB 843 (Glazer) - Renter’s Tax Credit - SUPPORT - Passed the Senate Governance and Finance Committee
• SB 847 (Hurtado) - Covid-19 Rent Relief Grant Program - SUPPORT - Passed the Senate Housing Committee
• SB 897 (Weickowski) - ADU Height Limit - Would increase limit from 16 to 25 feet - SUPPORT - Passed the Senate Housing Committee 
• SB 1017 (Eggman) - Lease Termination: Abuse or Violence - Would prohibit a landlord from terminating or failing to renew a tenancy based on an act of abuse or violence against a tenant, a tenant’s immediate family member, or tenant’s household. - OPPOSED
• SB 1133 (Archuleta) - Price Gouging: State of Emergency: Specified Housing Exclusion - The bill would also exclude specific categories of housing from these provisions, including housing that was issued a certificate of occupancy for residential use within the 3 months preceding a proclamation of a state of emergency or declaration of local emergency or within the duration of the proclamation or declaration. - SUPPORT
• SB 1335 (Eggman) - Expands FEHA discrimination to use of credit history - OPPOSED

Rent Assistance Update

The rent assistance application portal is now closed and approximately $2.6 billion has been paid out in rent assistance in the state. For more information on the rental assistance program, please visit Housing is Key.