C.A.R. is actively working to defeat two bills that will further harm property owners and exacerbate the state’s housing crisis: AB 1771 (Ward) and AB 2050 (Lee).
C.A.R. strongly opposes to AB 1771 (Ward) which would unfairly penalize property owners with up to a 25 percent tax if a property is sold before seven years from its original date of purchase. C.A.R. has worked to put together a broad coalition in opposition to the bill including almost all sectors of the real estate industry.
AB 1771 also does nothing to ensure that first-time or other home buyers are guaranteed access to homes, nor does it create more housing opportunities. Rather, the bill will cause unintended consequences for the market by reducing the number of homes available for sale – further depressing California’s ownership housing supply.
In a time of record surplus, the state should not punish property owners simply for deciding to move due to unforeseen life events. C.A.R. strongly opposes this bill as it drives yet another wedge into bridging the wealth gap by reducing the opportunities for wealth creation and housing security.
C.A.R. also opposes AB 2050 (Lee), which is basically a reintroduction of AB 854 (Lee). Enacted by the Legislature in 1985, and sponsored by C.A.R., the Ellis Act prohibits local government agencies from forcing property owners to continue operating their private properties as rental businesses. C.A.R. successfully defeated AB 854 (Lee) with the help of its members who responded to a Red Alert on the bill. It looks like we will be forced to now take on AB 2050, which like AB 854, weakens the Ellis Act by, among other things, forcing property owners to stay in the rental business for at least 5 years before seeking to use the Ellis Act to go out of business.