Effective lobbying from C.A.R., and especially, outspoken opposition from REALTORS® on C.A.R. Legislative Days this year, have helped defeat two bills in the State Legislature that would have imposed onerous regulations on the rental housing market.
Opposition to AB 2710 (Kalra) Residential Real Property: Right of First Offer, was one of the “hot issues” for this year’s Legislative Day. This bill would have prohibited rental property owners from selling their property to someone other than a so-called “qualified entity” for up to almost one year. The bill would have applied to applied to any residential multifamily property and any single-family home or condo with a current tenant. The rental property owner who wished to sell their property would have had to first provided a “disclosure package” to each “qualified entity.” Depending upon the circumstances, such as the type of property and the entity’s ability to secure financing, AB 2710 provided that this process could potentially take anywhere from several months to up to almost 1 year. AB 2710 was pulled by the author from its scheduled hearing in the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee.
Opposition to AB 2469 (Wicks) Statewide Rental Registry was a hot issue for this year’s Virtual Legislative Day held earlier this year. This bill would have established a statewide rental registry that would force housing providers to annually submit, and continually update, proprietary business information to the California Department of Housing and Community Development. Those housing providers who failed to submit this information would have been unable to raise the rent or evict a tenant – even an unscrupulous tenant engaged in criminal activity. AB 2469 failed to pass out of the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee by the Legislature’s policy committee deadline.
AB 2469 and AB 2710 are now considered “dead” in the legislature, meaning they will not move forward in the current session.