EBRHA is Tracking
Bills That Did Not Pass
Bill That Passed
MORE DETAILS Electric charging vehicle station retrofit mandate bill is massively amended AB 1738 was just amended at our request. Up until two days ago the bill mandated the installation of EV charging stations in the parking lots of every multifamily property. To comply, residential property owners would have collectively spent billions of dollars to comply with the proposed mandate. As amended, and per our request, the bill will not impose that mandate unless owners pull a building permit and undertake major remodeling of parking lots. Protecting Convicted Felons AB 2383 essentially creates a new class of protected individuals that are not recognized as a protected class by any other civil rights legislation (other than Oakland and San Francisco). Members of this new class, unlike other protected classes are not in the class because of immutable characteristics. The safety and security of tenants will be compromised. The bill treats all felonies as if they have the same consequences and allows applicants that have a felony to dispute owners decision not to rent. Available rental units would be kept off the market for up to three weeks during which time the applicant presents their arguments. All other qualified applicants would be forced to wait until the “felon” applicant exhausts all of their remedies to rent. The bill will be heard in the Senate next week. Use of Credit Reports is Preserved SB 1335 would have prohibit the use of any form of a person’s credit history as part of applying for a residential rental unit if that applicant provides "alternatives of financial responsibility" (not defined) in instances where there is any form of government rent subsidy. This past week the bill died in a committee of the Assembly. The committee accepted our argument that credit reports are universally used by creditors. Creditors review overall debt load and the performance of debt repayment. The bill would have supplanted the lawful and purposeful use of credit reports. The use of the term “alternatives of financial responsibility” did not assure the legal obligation to always pay rent in the event of default nor did it guarantee prompt payment. Unlawful detainers would have become far more complicated than ever. We are quite pleased that the bill died along with many other bill regarding the use of credit reports. Mandatory Cooling Standards May Become Law AB 2597 (Bloom) was recently approved by the lower house of the legislature, the Assembly. EBRHA continues to oppose the bill, despite significant amendments. At one time the bill would have declared all existing rental housing to be substandard if at the dwelling did not provide adequate cooling (not defined!). Now, the bill charges the state Housing and Community Development Department to develop, propose and recommend new building code requirements to the state Building Standards Commission for all new and existing housing to provide for adequate residential cooling. This ill defined standard will (not could) cost thousands of dollars per existing dwelling. AB 2053 (Lee) creates the CA Housing Authority, but more important it establishes the CA Social Housing Act. The sole purpose of the bill is for the entity to “own housing which shall be provided at sub-market prices and allocated (to tenants) according to specific rules (price control) rather than according to market mechanisms (privately owned rental housing). The entity that would be created is charged with the responsibility to buy existing rental and develop new housing. It will openly compete with private ownership and benefit by not paying any taxes, thus driving market prices of all rental housing. The bill will soon be heard in the Senate. OTHER AFFORDABLE HOUSING & HOMELESSNESS LEGISLATION:
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