State Renters’ Caucus Introduces Package Of Pro-Renter Bills

The California State Renters’ Caucus announced on Wednesday a package of bills aimed at expanding renter protections, who make up nearly half of the state’s residents, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
The Renters Caucus, which was established in 2022, has since doubled in size from five members to 10.
Six members of the caucus each introduced their own bill at a press conference on Wednesday, emphasizing how the growing number of assemblymembers who are renters is driving the introduction of more legislation that advocates for the needs and rights of tenants, said Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) who is the chair of the Renters’ Caucus.
“It is an incredible increase in representation for a set of folks in California who desperately need not just representation, but results,” Haney said.
Haney’s bill would prohibit landlords from imposing additional charges on top of rent that were not clearly disclosed in the lease agreement, such as maintenance markups, vague utility markups, and administrative fees.
The bill aims to close a loophole in 2019’s Tenant Protection Act that allows landlords to raise costs for tenants through adding on other fees.
“There are all these different fees that are tacked on for so many folks. Yesterday’s price is not today’s price,” Haney said. “What’s being advertised doesn’t include all of the things that you’re actually expected to pay.”
Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-Milpitas) proposed the Social Housing Act, a bill that would create a California Housing Authority as an independent state body with the goal of building publicly owned, mixed income homes to meet the gap between housing production and the housing needs of residents.
The social housing model would use higher income tenants to subsidize affordable units, ensuring that units remain affordable without government subsidies.
“If we put all of our hope in the for-profit market without social housing alternatives, then we are doomed in this crisis,” Lee said. “There are too many people who are rent burdened, who face way too ridiculous housing prices. We have to have government step in as a real provider of housing.”
Lee introduced the same bill last year, but it failed before going to the First Committee Review.
Federal threats to cut Social Security benefits drove Caucus Vice Chair Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles) to create bill that would temporarily halt evictions for tenants who are affected by delays in receiving Social Security payments.
“We know that the federal government is following through on all of their promises to take away parts of the social safety net to make life harder for everyday Americans,” Bryan said. “And that includes our folks with disabilities and our seniors who rely on SSI benefits from the federal government.”
The bill would sunset in January 2029, the same time that next U.S. president is supposed to enter office after President Donald Trump’s term ends.
State Sen. Aisha Wahab (D-Fremont), who was recently appointed as leader of the Senate Housing Committee, introduced a senate bill that prevents tenants awaiting rental assistance from being evicted.
“Most of these cases are due to nonpayment of rent,” Wahab said. “Whether it’s an employer withholding wages, or whether it’s a job loss or a medical emergency that hits them with a several thousand-dollar cost.”
The Keeping Californians Housed Act seeks to give tenants more than the current three days to pay overdue rent. If an eviction is already underway, a renter can pay the overdue amount at any time in the eviction process to immediately halt the eviction.
State Sen. Sasha Renee Perez (D-Pasadena) proposed a bill to ban the use of Artificial Intelligence to drive up rent prices.
The expansion of AI has influenced the housing market with some landlords using AI software and rental data from competitors to set their own rents. Some Bay Area cities are weighing outlawing the AI software and both San Francisco and Berkeley have already banned it.
“These AI-driven, rent-setting algorithms turn competitors into collaborators, facilitating an unlawful information sharing operation that manipulates the housing market,” Renee Perez said. “This tech-powered exploitation is worsening the already dire affordability crisis.”
The final bill in the package was authored by Assembly Majority Whip Mark Gonzalez (D-Los Angeles) and aims to expand emergency price-gouging protections to include rental housing for leases that last more than one year.
The bill comes after January’s devastating fires in Los Angeles that saw some rent prices skyrocket, increasing beyond the legal limit that prohibits landlords from raising rents more than 10% of the price charged before a state emergency.
“It’s unacceptable to profit off of someone else’s tragedy,” Gonzalez said. “Those in the rental market are vulnerable, and no person should be paying double or triple the rent during an emergency.”
The bill would allow current law to also be applied to commercial properties. It would also increase penalties from $10,000 to up to $25,000.
All six bills are expected to be heard at committees within the next few weeks.
The Renters’ Caucus is optimistic that this comprehensive package of pro-tenant bills will provide immediate protections for renters, many of whom face exorbitant rent prices that compel them to devote substantial portions of their income to housing costs.
“What we’re seeing this year is not only more renters who are here in the legislature, we’re also seeing more pro-renter policies being introduced,” Haney said. “These are never easy issues to get through the legislature, but we are a little less small, a little more mighty, and as committed as ever to deliver for California’s residents, including its over 17 million renters.”