Legislative Update
The Legislature finished their work on policy bills after midnight on August 31st and then came back the next day to pass several budget bills. In a major win for the industry, SB 493 (Becker) - Price Gouging During Emergency Declaration, failed to have the votes necessary to pass the Assembly Floor and was moved to the inactive file. Another bill, AB 1128 (Muratsuchi) Mobilehome Rent Control, which would have mandated rent control for mobilehome parks in Torrance, failed in the Assembly on Concurrence in Senate amendments.
The Governor has until September 30th to sign or veto legislation that is pending on his desk. Several of those key bills include:
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AB 1265 (Haney) - Historic Tax Credits - CalRHA supports AB 1265, which would extend and revise (ex. removes cap) of the California’s historic rehabilitation tax credit program, creating a similar credit for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2027, and before January 1, 2032.
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AB 1842 (Harabedian) - Fire Disaster Mortgage Relief - CalRHA supports AB 1842, which would provide mortgage forbearance protections for borrowers whose homes become uninhabitable because of a federally declared disaster. It would require mortgage loan servicers to offer up to 180 days initially and up to 12 months total, while limiting fees, interest, and negative credit reporting.
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AB 2025 (Pellerin) - Digitally Altered Images - AB 2025 would require a person who includes a digitally altered image in an advertisement or other promotional material for the rental of real property to include a disclosure, link, URL, or QR code to the original, unaltered photo.
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SB 868 (Wiener) - Portable Solar Generation Devices - CalRHA has requested a veto of SB 868, which would create significant concerns for multifamily housing providers. The bill is specifically intended to expand balcony and plug-in solar access to renters and other residents. These systems may involve mounting equipment on balconies or other portions of a residential property. Unfortunately, the bill substantially limits the utility oversight that currently helps ensure distributed generation equipment is safely connected and operated.
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SB 1117 (Cervantes) - Lowering ADU Costs - CalRHA supports SB 1117, which would lower certain fees for accessory dwelling units, requiring charges to apply only to the portion of an ADU that exceeds 750 square feet of interior livable space. It would update local agency fee-setting duties under the Planning and Zoning Law and declare the issue a matter of statewide concern, applying to all cities including charter cities.
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SB 1160 (Durazo) - Eviction Data Reporting - SB 1160 would require the Judicial Council, by July 1, 2032, to determine when each county court system can submit the required data; counties able to do so would begin quarterly reporting on January 1, 2033, and all counties would be required to comply by January 1, 2034.
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SB 1296 (Durazo) - Pet Ads - SB 1296 would require landlords who allow pets to keep a written pet policy, disclose it in specified online and application materials, and refund application fees in certain cases if the policy was not properly disclosed and take effect April 1, 2027. We had worked out language with the author’s office. However, further amendments now create a private right of action so CalRHA is asking for a veto of SB 1296.
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SB 1365 (Becker) - Price Gouging - The bill would change California’s emergency price-gouging law by turning several current exemptions into affirmative defenses, expanding the definition of housing, and revising how certain daily rental prices are calculated. It would allow a defendant to justify rent increases tied to qualifying repair or addition costs incurred within the prior year under specified conditions, include all rental housing regardless of lease length, and set a new formula for daily-rate housing not previously rented daily. SB 1365 is a veto priority for CalRHA.
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SB 1371 (Durazo) - Solid Waste Handling: Labor Disputes - SB 1371 would prohibit a city or county from entering into or amending a solid waste hauling agreement if it excuses the service provider from performing its duties in the event of a labor dispute. Unfortunately, the bill would make trash service disruptions during labor disputes harder to prevent and harder to manage. CalRHA is part of a large coalition of opposition to SB 1371.
