California lawmakers want to boost tenant protections

Following failure of a bill that would have expanded rent control, a trio of California lawmakers is introducing legislation aimed at adding other protections for renters.

Democratic Assemblymen David Chiu of San Francisco, Richard Bloom of Santa Monica and Rob Bonta of Alameda want to make it harder to evict tenants and extend timelines before evictions could occur.

“We’re in the midst of the worst tenant crisis in our state’s history,” said Chiu, chairman of the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee. “Tenants are facing unprecedented hardships and constantly under the threat of eviction.”

Here are the three bills:

  1. Assembly Bill 2364 from Bloom makes changes to the Ellis Act, the state law that allows landlords to evict tenants from rent-controlled apartments if they are tearing down a building or getting out of the rental business. Bloom’s bill would make it harder for landlords to evict tenants unit-by-unit and provide one year’s notice before an eviction could occur.
  2. Assembly Bill 2343 from Chiu extends the time tenants have to pay rent before being evicted and gives tenants more time to respond to an eviction lawsuit.
  3. Bonta’s legislation, which he plans to introduce by the end of the week, would force landlords statewide to comply with a list of defined reasons, such as damaging a unit, creating a nuisance or not paying rent, before they could evict someone, a process known as “just-cause” eviction.

One third of California renters pay more than half their incomes on rent, according to a recent state report. Tenant advocates also are collecting signatures for a potential November ballot measure to expand rent control statewide.

Source: latimes.com