Here’s a Summary of Legislative “Wins” and Bills Signed by the Governor

Here’s a Summary of Legislative “Wins” and Bills Signed by the Governor

By Kate Bell, Kate Bell Strategies

Bills That Did Not Pass

Overall, the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles’ advocacy efforts resulted in a successful legislative year in that we were able to “hold” many problematic bills early in the year when they were before the policy and fiscal committees. Many of these were reintroductions of bills from prior years. A list of those bills that we successfully opposed and killed is below. 

• Assembly Bill 919 (Kalra): Tenant Opportunity to Purchase – would have required property owners to offer their renters or designative non-profit organizations a “first right” to purchase their rental property when listed for sale.
• Assembly Bill 1035 (Muratsuchi): Mobile Home Park Rent Limitation – would have limited annual rent increases for mobile homes to just 3% per year (the concern was that a similar proposal would be imposed on apartment buildings.)
• Assembly Constitutional Amendment 3 (Lee): Wealth Tax – would have imposed a tax on worldwide assets.
• Senate Bill 395 (Wahab): Statewide Eviction Database – would have created a statewide eviction database requiring property owners to report eviction filings.
• Senate Bill 440 (Skinner): Regional Housing Authorities – would have created a new government entity that could have increased taxes on property.
• Senate Bill 460 (Wahab): “Ban the Box” on Rental Applications – another “re-tread” bill that would have prohibited asking rental applicants about past criminal history or arrests.
• Senate Bill 466 (Wahab): Repeal of Costa-Hawkins Rental Act – would have repealed portions of the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act of 1995 and expanded local rent control regulations.
• Senate Bill 594 (Durazo): Disclosure of Beneficial Ownership Information – would have required disclosure of beneficial ownership interests in corporations such as C-corporations, limited liability corporations, etc.
• Senate Bill 611 (Menjivar): Rental Advertisements – would have required expanded disclosures in advertising for rental housing, including disclosure of all types of fees that may be imposed.
• Senate Bill 863 (Allen): Notice to Terminate – would have extended the 3-day notice to “pay or quit” or “perform or quit” to 7 days.

There were many bills that passed the legislature and reached the Governor’s desk. A total of 1,046 such bills were sent to the Governor and of those bills, the Governor signed 890 bills and vetoed 156 bills, which is a 14.9% veto rate.  He concluded his work on the evening of October 13, 2023, one day earlier than imposed by statute.

A summary of the passed and signed bills of interest to rental housing providers are set forth below:

• Assembly Bill 12 (Haney): Security Deposits - prohibits a landlord from accepting a security deposit in an amount that is in excess of one month’s rent, regardless of whether the residential property is unfurnished or furnished.  The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles was able to negotiate an amendment that exempts housing providers who have no more than 2 properties a carve out for owners who are natural persons that own up to 2 properties that each have no more than 4 units. The new law is effective July 1, 2024. The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles had taken a strong oppose position on the bill, but unfortunately, the California Apartment Association ultimately took a “neutral” position which helped pass the bill.
• Assembly Bill 548 (Boerner): State Housing Law: Inspection – This new law requires local enforcement agencies to develop policies and procedures for inspecting multi-unit housing developments if an inspector or code enforcement officer has determined that a unit in that building is substandard or is in violation of state habitability standards. The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles had taken a strong opposing position on the bill.
• Assembly Bill 690 (Chen): Legal Document and Unlawful Detainer Assistants – This new law extends the operation of the provisions of law regulating legal document assistants (LDAs) and unlawful detainer assistants (UDAs) from January 1, 2024, to January 1, 2030. The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles was in support of this bill.
• Assembly Bill 1317 (Carillo): Unbundled Parking – This new law requires owners of newly constructed multi-unit properties with 16 or more rental units that provide parking to unbundle parking from the price of rent (“unbundled parking” means selling or leasing parking spaces separate from the lease of the residential use). The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles took an oppose position on this bill.
• Assembly Bill 1332 (Carillo): Accessory Dwelling Unit Pre-Approved Plans – This new law requires local jurisdictions to create a program for the pre-approval of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles was in support of this bill.
• Assembly Bill 1418 (McKinnor): Criminal Convictions – This new law limits the ability of local governments to adopt local ordinances, rules, policies, programs, or regulations to penalize a tenant because the tenant may have come in contact with law enforcement or require landlords to adopt policies or procedures that do so.
• Assembly Bill 1607 (Carillo): Los Angeles County Affordable Solutions Act – This new law creates the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency (LACAHSA) which is empowered to transfer a portion of revenue raised by new tax measures to the County of Los Angeles for programs that provide support and services that prevent and combat homelessness, including funding of private attorneys to represent tenants facing eviction proceedings.  The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles was opposed to this bill.
• Assembly Bill 1620 (Zbur): Tenants With Permanent Disabilities Right to Relocate to Comparable Units – This new law permits a local jurisdiction with rent control to impose a requirement on a property owner of any rent-controlled unit to allow a tenant with a permanent physical disability to relocate to an available comparable or smaller unit located on an accessible floor of the property and retain their same rental rate.  The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles was able to negotiate certain amendments to the bill, and as a result, while initially opposed to the bill, we ultimately took a neutral position.
• Assembly Bill 1679 (Santiago): County of Los Angeles Transaction and Use Taxes – This new law allows Los Angeles County to impose a higher transaction and use tax (TUT) that exceeds the 2% statutory limitation. The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles was opposed to this bill. The last thing any California citizen needs is more taxes.
• Senate Bill 48 (Becker): Building Energy Savings Act- This new law requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) along with other agencies, to develop a state strategy to achieve state goals for energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing buildings. The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles did not take a position on this bill.
• Senate Bill 71 (Umberg): Small Claims and Limited Civil Cases – This new law increases the limits for civil cases within the jurisdiction of the small claims court and increases the limit on the amount in controversy. The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles was in support of this bill.
• Senate Bill 267 (Eggman): Credit Checks of Persons Receiving Government Subsidies – This new law prohibits the use of a person’s credit history as part of the application process without offering an applicant the option of providing alternative evidence of financial responsibility and ability to pay only in instances in which there is a government rent subsidy. The law requires that the housing providers consider that alternative evidence in lieu of the person’s credit history.  The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles was opposed to this bill.
• Senate Bill 567 (Durazo): Just Cause Eviction Rules – This new law amends the no-fault, just cause eviction provisions of the Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (a/k/a, Assembly Bill 1482) and provides additional enforcement mechanisms for violations of restrictions on rent increases and no-fault just cause evictions. This new law will take effect April 1, 2024. The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles was opposed to this bill.
• Senate Bill 712 (Portantino): Electronic Micro-Mobility Devices – This new law prohibits property owners from preventing a tenant from owning personal, micro-mobility devices or from storing and recharging up to one personal micro-mobility device in their rental unit for each person occupying the unit. Electric micro-mobility devices include any small, low-speed, electric-powered transportation device, including electric-assist bicycles (e-bikes), electric scooters (e-scooters), and other small, lightweight, wheeled electric-powered conveyances. The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles was opposed to this bill.

The Governor’s  Vetoes

Not all proposed bills that “hit” the Governor’s desk made it to the finish line. The following bills of interest to rental housing providers were opposed by the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles and ultimately vetoed by the Governor:

• Assembly Bill 309 (Lee): Social Housing Act – The bill would have created the Social Housing Program within the Department of General Services for the purpose of identifying and developing up to three social housing projects on state-owned surplus land.
• Assembly Bill 524 (Wicks): Discrimination Against Family Caregivers – Would have made family care givers a protected class under the Fair Employment and Housing Act's anti-discrimination provisions in employment.
• Assembly Bill 875 (Gabriel): Reporting of Court Data – Would have required California courts to report data regarding unlawful detainer (eviction) actions.

Insurance Industry Crisis in California

An issue that the Legislature did not fully address during this year’s legislative session was the growing problem of insurance coverage in the state. Many property owners are having difficulty renewing existing insurance policies, and are experiencing significant rate increases as many insurers have left the California market.

Given the Governor’s recent executive order, the Insurance Commissioner and the Legislative leaders have stated that they will continue to work on the issue this fall and going into next year.  The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles recently met with the Deputy Insurance Commissioner and will continue the conversation on meaningful reforms to help the rental housing industry.

Initiative Update

Two proposed constitutional amendments passed this year by Legislature, but do not require signature by the Governor are Assembly Constitutional Amendments 1 and 13.  The bills that initiated these proposed constitutional amendments had a large coalition of opposition, but nevertheless, the authors were able to secure the required two-thirds vote of the Legislature to ensure passage.  As a result, these proposed constitutional amendments will be on the November 5, 2024 ballot along with other eligible ballot initiatives. The top priority ballot initiatives for rental housing; however, are the Justice for Renters Act (Rent Control) and Taxpayer Protection Act (Limitations on Tax Increases).

The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles was opposed to each of the proposed constitutional amendments passed by the legislature, which are set forth below:

• Assembly Constitutional Amendment No. 1 (Aguiar-Curry): Voter Approval Threshold for New Taxes - Assembly Constitutional Amendment No. 1, if passed, will lower the voter threshold from a two-thirds supermajority to 55% majority to approve local (city, county, and special district) certain bond issuances and certain special taxes for affordable housing, public infrastructure, and permanent supportive housing projects.
• Assembly Constitutional Amendment No. 13 (Haney): Initiative Threshold – If passed, this constitutional amendment would require any ballot initiative that includes one or more provisions that mend the Constitution to increase the voter approval requirement to adopt any state or local measure would be approved by the voters only if the proportion of votes cast in favor of the initiative measure is equal to or greater than the highest voter approval requirement that the initiative measure would impose. The measure would specify that this voter approval requirement would apply to statewide initiative measures that appear on the ballot on or after January 1, 2024.

This constitutional amendment was proposed by our Legislature to stop the proposed Taxpayer Protection Act ballot initiative which seeks to increase the required vote on various new taxes to a two-thirds super majority. Under current law, the Taxpayer Protection Act would merely require a majority, 50.1%, vote for passage and this initiative would require that the Taxpayer Protection Act be passed by a two-thirds vote. Unfortunately, our state legislature will do anything to increase our taxes.

Kate Bell, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kate Bell Strategies is a former Partner of Capitol Advocacy, which is ranked among California’s top lobbying firms. Kate Bell Strategies and Capitol Advocacy represent the interests of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles and the California Rental Housing Association.  Both firms are based in Sacramento.

For more information:

Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles

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Los Angeles, California 90005 | (213) 384-4131

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