The California State Senate just today approved AB 1482, a bill to establish restrictive rent caps and burdensome "just cause" eviction standards. The bill is awaiting final consideration by the State Assembly. REALTORS® are encouraged to take action TODAY by calling their Assembly Member and encouraging them to oppose this bill!
The below request and related information was provided by the California Association of REALTORS®:
- Call your Assembly Member to OPPOSE AB 1482. Call 1-800-798-6593 and enter your Assembly PIN number to be connected to your Assembly Member’s office to voice your opposition to the bill.
- You can use the following script for the calls: "Hi, this is (insert your name). I'm a REALTOR® from your district. Please ask the Assembly Member to Vote No on AB 1482. It discourages the building of rental housing."
- Use Twitter to encourage your legislators to vote NO! You can use this Tweet and attach the graphic below: “As a local REALTOR® I encourage #CALeg to vote NO on #AB1482 because it discourages new rental #housing and won’t help more people find an affordable place to live"
Issue Background
Under current law, unless a local government has enacted rent control, there is no statewide cap on rent. Additionally, current law allows landlords to end a tenancy without cause when a lease expires.
As introduced, AB 1481 and AB 1482 – previously combined into one bill, AB 1482 - would have established a rent cap of 5% plus regional CPI, as well as “just cause” evictions after 6 months of tenancy, through 2030 on all rental properties; required relocation assistance up to 3 months when a tenant is evicted under specified conditions; and included insufficient vacancy decontrol language.
Per our agreement reached with the author and the sponsors, AB 1482 would have established a rent cap of 7% plus regional CPI, as well as “just cause” evictions after 12 months of tenancy, through 2023; limited relocation assistance to 1 month when a tenant is evicted under specified conditions; exempted single-family homes owned by a natural person, an LLC, or in a trust; and contained sufficient vacancy decontrol language. As proposed to be amended contrary to our agreement, the bill would revert back to its original rent cap of 5% plus regional CPI and last for a decade until 2030.
Why C.A.R. is OPPOSING AB 1482
• AB 1482 is equivalent to state-wide rent control! Voters overwhelmingly opposed state-wide rent control when they defeated Prop 10 last fall.
• AB 1482 negatively impacts small property owners. For example, the bill does not allow for “pass throughs” for substantial repairs, such as a broken HVAC system or leaky roof. A small property owner has no way to offset these repair costs and is unable to absorb such costs under such restrictive rent caps. As a result, small property owners may decide to their pull units off the rental market rather than be forced to limit rents to such a degree. Small property owners will also be discouraged from entering the rental market, leaving a greater concentration of ownership in the hands of large corporate entities.
• AB 1482 impacts REALTORS® who sell, manage and OWN mom-and-pop rental properties!
• AB 1482 discourages the creation of rental housing. Establishing restrictive rent caps and “just cause” eviction standards creates a disincentive for developers to build rental housing.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Julie Tran for more information at juliet@car.org.