Proposition 10 was defeated in the November 2018 election and although the bill was defeated, lawmakers promised a renewed effort at enacting rent control in California especially with the election of Governor Newsom who promised to sign rent control legislation once it reaches his desk.
AB 36 Seeks To “Stabilize” Rents in California While Increasing Affordable Housing
The next pro-rent control bill that we’re going to hear a lot about this year is AB 36.
Authored by Assemblyman Richard Bloom, AB 36 will seek to “stabilize” rents in California while increasing the availability of more affordable housing.
This bill would state the findings and declarations of the Legislature that, among other things, affordable housing has reached a crisis stage that threatens the quality of life of millions of Californians as well as the state economic outlook. This bill also would express the Legislature’s intent to enact legislation in order to stabilize rental prices and increase the availability of affordable rental housing.
Supply and Demand
Sadly, the battle over rent control in California will only continue until our elected officials start doing more to increase housing supply to keep up with demand, rather than ignoring the supply and demand issue and continuing to create new bills that aim to control how much money landlords can rent their properties for on a monthly basis.
Rent control as a whole is a bad thing because it stops landlords from being able to update their rental properties and offer tenants a great place to live because the landlord isn’t allowed to raise the rent with inflation.
Rent control in any form will be especially difficult for smaller “mom and pop” landlords who will be unable to continue maintaining their rental properties because they don’t have enough revenue coming in to cover their maintenance and or renovation costs.
If rent control is enacted on a statewide scale like Oregon’s recent rent control bill, construction of new rental properties would decline in California because no landlord wants to own rental properties in a rent-controlled market when they could be investing their money elsewhere.
To stay on top of the latest details about rent control in California follow our blog as we keep you updated on the top news that affects owners and renters alike.
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