(by Janis Mara) – The year 2020 could bring a happy – or at least happier – new year for California renters, with new protections going into effect for tenants this year.
As of Wednesday, Jan. 1, new laws limiting the ability of landlords to increase rent or evict certain tenants go into effect, as well as laws forbidding landlords to discriminate against renters using public housing vouchers.
Assembly Bill 1482, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October along with 24 other housing bills, imposes a statewide rent cap on apartments that are at least 15 years old. Rent increases are capped at 5 percent plus inflation, a provision set to sunset in 2030.
Also, when facing eviction without just cause, long-time tenants who have resided in a rental unit for at least 12 months must be compensated with relocation payments or waivers equivalent to a month’s rent. In such situations, it’s essential for tenants to explore their rights and options. Consider a moving company like Three Movers DC to assist with relocation needs during these challenging times.
Under “just cause,” a tenant can only be evicted for certain reasons, for example, not paying the rent or violating the lease. The new law applies to long-time tenants evicted without just cause.
Also going into effect Wednesday is Senate Bill 329, which prohibits landlords from discriminating against renters who use Section 8 or other government subsidies to pay all or part of their rent.
I’ve never been evicted, but is anyone evicted “without just cause?” Aren’t people evicted for a reason?
I think they may be talking about the situations where long time renters, many who are elderly and without much if any capital, are evicted so that their apartments can be “developed”, leaving them with nowhere to call home.
Landlords will sometimes evict tennants when they realize other apartments in their neighborhood are going for way much more money. But their rental income is much lower because they have tenants who have been there for years and years. So they will evict a tenant under the guise of fixing up the place where they do very little fixing up but turn around and rent it for more than twice what the evicted tenant was paying. So they will make up a reason to get the old tenant out. But now they’re going to have to come up with a damn good reason. Some of these evicted tenants have been veterans and senior citizens who have no savings to move elsewhere. And certainly can’t afford the enormous rent elsewhere.
Having lived next door to people before who were on Sec.8, I would never rent out my home to someone on it. It’s hard enough to find a good tenant. But, then add in someone who pays little to nothing, they have nothing to loose. I do. My home, and the expenses that come from renting to someone who most likely will not care and not most likely will not take pride in living there.
I think the problem is more complicated than that, many older people are on section 8, the tend to not be destructive, my girl friend in New York is on section 8, she does more for the upkeep than the landlord, sweeps the hallway, put planters outside with flowers in it.
Also I noticed certain areas of Concord even single family house are not kept up, I doubt all are section 8. Everyone should have pride in keeping where the live, clean and maintained so it is pleasant to look at, it benefits the whole neighborhood. If I owned a house and a neighbors house and yard, especially front yard, looks junkie, I would be upset, because it cheapens the value of that whole neighborhood.
Keep in mind that the cost upkeep on a property has skyrocketed in years. It’s like some of the gardeners, painters and such want one job to pay their whole months income needs. There are a lot of people, particularly seniors, who own or have a low mortgage who scrape to get by and would love to sell but they don’t know where to move to. If you read economic news there are plenty of articles about this problem.
Bebops,
My mother is one who is always talking about moving into a mobile home…..she has no idea the park fees that increase every year. We ended up getting a gardener to take care of the yard.
I’ve known people that were not receiving section 8, lived in a nice house, and then trashed it. One was a hoarder, the others were just messy/lazy. Having section 8 doesn’t mean you are worthless or lazy. I think a good portion of the disabled are receiving some kind of aide because you don’t receive much money on disability, so people with disabilities also use section 8. I know there are lots of other kinds of situations for people needing aide, why would anyone make the kind of assumption that people on section 8 are bad tenants?
Antioch stats say that %70 of calls for domestic violence come from section 8 homes.
@james: You are lying. There is no way for police to know whether a house is rented via HUD assistance. Stop it.
CY weve been thru this before,in those areas,the police have a roster of what addresses are section 8 for OFFICER SAFETY because %70 of all calls for domestic violence come from section 8 homes in Antioch,sorry if it offends you because you live there.Why would you deny a fact otherwise?
Yay! Let’s fix the cost of housing by making it so nobody wants to be a landlord.
Exactly. Why would anyone want to be a landlord in California?
Socialism is winning, and landlords are stuck in the middle.
Agreed. The more the state “protects” tenants, the fewer people will want to be landlords and the fewer rentals there will be. That being said, I’m sympathetic to people who are kicked out who can’t afford a comparable place. But usually that means they’ve been underpaying relative to the market, so the landlord was essentially subsidizing them. Forcing landlords to forgo income to subsidize a tenant isn’t fair to the landlord.
Yeah screw this. Time to sell my rental property.
Why would a landlord have some pride and dump a bunch of money into a “16” year old or more rental if they can only charge the same amount???
This is why there are slum lords. Government sticking their noses in things again like parasites.
Progressives are turning California into Baja Venezuela.
Lol…Is that a mexico Venezuela hybrid?
Best advice is to move out of CA and don’t look back!
so when are you going?
Captain Bebops, I realize how the cost has gone up, but it doesn’t cost much to rake leaves, and not let all kinds of junk accumulate in the front yard. Some of the houses I have seen are in my neighborhood, and I constantly see the neighbors outside, they are neither old nor disabled, often they have 2-3 newer cars, so I don’t buy the “I can’t afford” in some cases yes, but other not so much.
Hanne, what we are talking about is not raking a few leaves but some landscaping work. That has gotten more expensive. Those who are lucky enough to have the funds to have that done often do so. Those who are cash strapped find themselves in a fix even though they might like to have the project done. We are living a cruel and unreasonable world right now. The economics need fixing.
A lease expiring better be “just cause”
Newsom and his mob evidently want to make the housing crisis and costs of housing worse rather than better. They are eroding the property rights of those that take on the risks of investing in property. Costs of maintaining property go up far more than 5% per year. Plus tenants destroy rental property because they have no pride if ownership. Section 8 properties frequently become drug houses. I live in a condo,one of our units was made a section 8, there was constant traffic people pulling up,someone jumps out of the car runs inside comes out a few minutes later…repeat many times per day. When I was home I would stand out there and take pictures of them…at any rate the CPD put them under surveillance and sure enough they were arrested. The HOA sued the owner for creating a public nuisance win several time, then he sold the place. Nice people live there now.
It looks like “for cause” is basically why most evictions happen anyway. That means this would prevent discrimination. I think a person could get around the requirement to accept section 8 by simply running a credit check that doesn’t pass their approval. I dont think this hinders landlords as much as some might think..
Well protecting all the illegals the state has hidden away in all the low income housing is under way
Nice to see who the state is looking out for
18 million illegals all primed to vote dem once the politicians in-act The fare illegal voting laws
so illegals from anywhere will have a say where and what citizens have to pay for
Since the state has made this once proud And clean state
a forclosure property
You can expect lots of laws against American citizens and
More laws to allow crime and panhandling and bummage and stealing from you
as the politicians push for anti Americans in this state
As they push for another 18million illegals to enter the state
there by pushing more Americans out
Forcing the rest to pay for new housing to support illegals
The so called housing crisis is another political scam to grab attention and force voters to do the politicians bidding
I did not think Americans were that susceptible to manipulation by a fascist state gov
If you are an American – with 13 years of Free Education, Low-Cost Community Colleges, you are fluent in English, you have contacts – and you are competing with illegals who don’t speak English, have little education, little money, and no contacts…
You owe Taxpayers a refund for everything they have spent on you and you have to ask yourself, “What I have been doing with my life?”.
Wrong Rob –
My life doesn’t revolve around saving the rest of the planet by allowing them to live in my backyard and have my taxes forcefully taken to pay for them.
As a renter myself who has had to deal with my rent going up on average $100/month ever year, all while my salary isn’t keeping up, this is fantastic news to hear.
I’m so sick of greedy property owners and “investors” who come in and buy up property, only to turn around and rent it out at double what it should be, bleeding renters dry of any money they would have leftover for trying to save for their futures.
@Chelsie
Well Chelsie we are sick of renter’s who can’t afford to keep up with rent. As a property owner you should be allowed to charge whatever we want. If you can’t afford it than try buying your on place and stop relying on the government to bail you out on everything.
@Chelsie
Try making smart investments and find a better career path to be able to afford what you want. Instead of looking for a handout from the State. We need less government control!
Chelsie,
I don’t know what you’re paying now in rent but if it’s $2000/month, your landlord can still raise it by $100/month every year PLUS inflation. And since that’s all he can raise it in a year, I would expect him to take that opportunity and make sure it goes up every year. So rent control didn’t save you anything.
Let’s see – last year an average1BR apartment in Concord was $1900/month. An average 2BR was $2300/month.
Maximum rent increase is 5% plus inflation, which, according to BLS is 3% in Bay Area. So…
The rent for an average 1BR apartment next year can be up to $2050, a $150/month increase. An average 2BR apartment can be up to $2,485, a $185/month increase.
And now that the landlords are stuck with for-cause evictions only, most of them will soak you with the maximum increase. Not only because they are pissed, but also as an insurance in case they have to give you a non-renewal notice. Nothing personal, mind you – just the cost of doing business in CA.
Don’t forget to thank Gov Newsom and CA State Assembly next time you mail your rent check with increase 1.5 times higher than in the previous years.
I like how you guys are blaming her for not making enough to keep up with inflation instead of blaming her company for not paying her enough keeping up with inflation.
By your logic, yea, let’s just make more money. Lets put the burden on the people for not being rich enough instead of on the companies for being too stingy. I’ll always ask the question: Why are you protecting corporations instead of your fellow man?
NO ON 13
The better question to ask is: which tenants will NOT be protected by AB1482?
*Condos and single-family homes (unless owned by a corporation or REIT);
*Duplexes where the owner lives in one of the units;
*Cities with existing rent control laws on the books.
Thank you for the clarification. We own one rental house that we rent out for a very fair rent. It is nice to know that the law will not apply to us.
Woah wait
So you are poking me with a democrat stick I see
Well you sure did forget I am a citizen
and have the right to an opinion
The right to protest
The right to watch cable tv
Answer the question
Where Are the 18 million illegals living
On the street
In high rise condos
Penthouse
They come with nothing and the state houses them
Where do you think they house them
under section 8
Under the table
Behind closed doors
The bunkers in the naval weapon station
Please allow us and your 13 years of education to answer that question
Then you might see how directly politicians are placing American citizens on the streets
Creating a situation that the state democrats will cry to the fed for money
Please educated superior
Where are the illegals living ?????
Renter’s need to stop relying on the State to bail them out of paying rent. Rent control is government control. We as property owners have the god given right to charge what we want. It’s our property!
TraumaRx, and others that has gotten on Chelsie case, you are not very compassionate are you. Where do you get the idea that Chelsie is relying on the Government for everything. She is just lamenting that her rent keeps going up, but her salary does not, This is a well know problem, not everyone can afford to buy in this expensive market, not everyone can or have the time to further educate themselves, perhaps she is a single mother. If you work full time and commute there is little time left for other things. I have owned property most of my adult life, when married my ex husband and I owned real estate. I have also been a renter, owning is preferable. I understand what is involved with up keep of rental property, but I also understand the dilemma of renters facing every increasing rents. Yes, traumaRx you can charge whatever you want for your property, but eventually you might just price yourself out of the market, certainly with that attitude I would not want to be your tenant.
My mind being what it is instantly flashes to this wack job every time I hear about rent control: https://youtu.be/Gg5SwyTvAHw
By the by, does it ever occur to you guys that when problems are as complex as this, singularly focused and pat, simple answers are probably not the solution? Just asking ’cause it did occur to me. Glad it’s not my problem to fix.
Speaking from my landlord experience. We have had the same renters in one of our rentals for 8 years. We have raised their rent once in 8 years…$75. We pay for the garbage service so that garbage doesn’t pile up. We too pay for a Gardner out of respect for the neighbors in not wanting it to look like we are slumlords. Our renters signed a contract with us in that there were not to be any animals and that there would be just the husband and wife residing in the home. We were called to replace a broken window…noticed a child and a dog were both living there. We were called again to replace the stove…installed a new one. In installing the new stove we noticed a second dog and another child. My gripe is where is there any respect for us as landlords? This is not a section 8 family. He is an electrician and she works for a grocery store. They don’t water the yards and the place is far from clean. We feel like they have taken advantage of our good nature…we could easily get another $1000.00 in rent. They do pay rent on time every month yet I can’t wait for them to move out! Really not happy with their disrespect and dishonesty. We were truly trying to make it possible for them to purchase a home.
You don’t have to wait for them to move out. I doubt they ever will given their cheap rent. You can evict them for violating the rental contract.
Cindy as a property owner of 3 rentals myself it’s your job to train your tenants. Your tenants violated your lease and you did nothing to enforce the rules. Hence them breaking the rules again with another child and another dog. Start raising the rents and charge for the pets. They’re aren’t your friends it’s just business. Tenants will take advantage of you if YOU let them.
Sorry to read about your situation. I have come to learn that in this Californian society, being good natured is seen as being weak and it doesn’t do any good but being taken advantage of. In this state people are aggressive and rude who can’t be bothered with saying please nor thank you, least of all have any other type of consideration toward others. This is an “all about me”, selfish society. The world would be very different if everyone was good natured, empathetic towards others.
Cindy as a property owner of 3 rentals myself it is your responsibility to train your tenants. That mean enforcing your rules the first time and every time. They violated the lease and saw that you did nothing so of course they are going to do it again. Hence more children and pets. They’re not your friends, run your rentals as a business. Raise the rents and charge for the pets. The tenant will take advantage of you if YOU let them.
Hi Cindy,
Yes good riddance to those ungrateful renters. I’m willing to help when I’m called to a rental and will go the extra mile if I can see the landlord cares, But….if I get called for a non-working water heater and a slumlord expects me to repair all of their “craigslist” half azzed plumbing work……I write it up and recommend that they hire a licensed contractor for those tasks.
Personally, if I was a renter….I would change my own furnace filter, or porch light bulb. Renters act like they are at a hotel, very sad.
I’ve seen renters who didn’t want to bother the landlord (because they felt they had fair rent) and would hire a plumber to snake the lines for example.
I’ve seen landlords get upset that the 30 year old furnace needed repaired…….stuff fails, that’s part of the “joy” of ownership.
I saw an inlaw unit in Walnut Creek where the elderly landlord (who lived in the front house) was going to give this person a great deal on this place……..the person called the housing authority!!!
PS: I’ve been to those houses where the backyard was a mountain of garbage since they had no garbage service.
If you want them to purchase a home, and they’ve been renting for the past 8 years, why not just come up with a reasonable deal for them to buy the house they are renting and you don’t have to worry about what they do with their lives.
They’re a married couple, who have lived there for 8 years, and you want to dictate if they are allowed to have a family with kids, and pets and the live the American Dream. Your expectations are totally unreasonable. It sounds like you want to be a landlord so you can control other people’s lives.
Houses need to be out on the market for people to buy, so they can be proper homes. There are far to many rental homes in Concord, which is driving up the housing prices unnecessarily. It’s bad for the community when people horde properties.
I totally agree with Natalie. Telling your renters they can’t have children is absurd. No pets isn’t unreasonable, but dictating no kids is.
You can’t tell anybody not to reproduce, you’re heading for legal trouble with that one. You should get the Nolo Press book about being a landlord called “The California Landlord’s Law Book”. The one about tenant’s rights couldn’t hurt either (I got both of theb).
I didn’t find Landlording very much fun. Good deeds rarely went unpunished, and kindness would often be mistaken for weakness. Good tenants are really few and far between, and you want to keep them happy as long as you can, but they’re the ones who buy their own place and move out within a year or two. I ended up keeping my extra apartment vacant for many years, and was much happier.
I saw one of those Int’l House Hunting shows that featured a couple moving to Sweden. The real estate agent in the small city they were moving to explained that rents had been going up quickly due to the lack of new apartments being built, so the city put a freeze on rents. The rental market completely dried up, and the only way to find a place to live was to buy something.
Control-happy gov’t officials never seem to learn basic economics. Nor do they learn from the mistakes of others.
So, if a tenant has a one year lease signed and the landlord decides to not rent to them again, does that count under this new law?
Congratulations to Gavin Newsome, U-Haul’s California Salesperson of the Month!
Why do California politicians insist on thwarting producers of the very things we need more of? Housing is scarce, so let’s reduce supply by ensuring property owners providing apartments from earning a market return; a balanced budget is desirable, so let’s increase tax rates that drive tax-payers away, or waste inordinate resources avoiding them; homelessness is rampant, so let’s increase stipends and shelters that draw more of them here.
We keep sending these same idiots to Sacramento and somehow expect a different result each time. I guess we elect the government we deserve.
Housing isn’t scarce,there are so many empty units,tell us how housing is scarce.There is no shortage and constant building of more.Baa a different tune,little sheep.
james, the problem is they are building more monster homes because they more profitable. That is if anyone can afford them. Some people may feel they can afford them and may have good income at the time but in 10 years may be in foreclosure. BTW, I asked a relative who is in the home building industry (and not small time) who confirmed they focus on big homes for profitability.
Otherwise maybe the SF Bay Area should look like Vancouver, BC which is now covered with lots of high rises.
Can we be evicted from the apartment just because neighbor downstairs said we make a lot of noise, which isn’t true. Last time everyone was asleep I was in the sofa and I see my mom stand to the restroom and then went back to bed ( like normal people do) after a2 minutes I heard the door. it was the neighbor knocking hella hard I open and he ask what was with the noise ?? So apparently he dont want no one to walk after 10pm not even to the restroom.
We had the opportunity to evaluate 1) keeping my mother’s home and renting it out for income to pay for assisted living, or 2) selling her home and investing the money in the stock market. Having had several bad experiences with renting out their home when living out-of-state we decided to sell and invest.
I have fewer headaches and don’t worry about someone skipping out on the rent or trashing the place. Non-owners have no idea how expensive it is to maintain a house or apartment. Prediction: Fewer multi-unit housing starts in California.
Ive been a renter all my life. Ive never married. Raised two boys on my own. One is a college graduate and a homeowner. The other belongs to a high paying union. Ive always treated my home like I own it. Ive always worked and never have I been subsidized by the government. Being rich has never been my goal in life. I run my own small business and have for almost 20 years. Im quite happy having enough money to pay the bills and support myself. I ski, I camp, I go to beach and I get all my dental work done in Mexico. I have no desire for diamonds, expensive cars, vacation cruises, designer clothes ect. I buy good liquor and fresh food. Most of all yall have it all wrong. Wanting things that have no meaning. The depth if our relationships isbour most valuable commodity.
A lovely bunch of people have moved into the neighborhood rental. They have cats buried in their front yard marked with crosses. Garbage is overflowing in the front and side yard. Traffic day and night coming and going. The residents have broken into both neighbors homes on either side of them. Domestic fights that spill out into the front yard. Broken windows all around the house. Section 8? Don’t know. But it’s a landlords and neighbors worst nightmare. Lodato / Concord Blvd. How do you stop it?
The new 2020 Rent Control for rent increase and just cause as stated above does NOT apply to single family residential homes. Landlords MUST provide a copy of the new rent control laws along with the single family residential exemption form.