A state bill to tighten rent control won’t become law this year after a Bay Area legislator pulled the measure for lack of support.
Assembly Bill 1157, dubbed the Affordable Rent Act, aimed to lower statewide rent caps already in place for most apartment buildings and expand the restrictions to single-family rental homes. The bill advanced out of the state Assembly’s housing committee last week.
AB 1157’s author, Assemblymember Ash Kalra, a San Jose Democrat, withdrew the legislation Tuesday after “robust debate” with fellow lawmakers “signaled more time is needed to work on the bill,” he said in a statement.
Kalra said he plans to reintroduce a version of the bill next year.
“We must guide our policies with empathy for one another, especially as it pertains to keeping families in their homes,” he said. “In the 4th largest economy in the world, systemic inequality continues to weigh down millions of Californians.”
The bill sought to reform a 2019 law that expanded rent restrictions statewide. That law, AB 1482, capped rent hikes at between 5% and 10% a year, depending on inflation. It mainly applies to apartment buildings that are 15 years old or older.
Kalra’s bill would have lowered the rent increase limits to between 2% and 5% a year. It would have also extended the rent caps to all rented single-family homes and condos, which are now exempt unless owned by a corporation, trust or LLC. Additionally, it would have eliminated the current law’s 2030 sunset date, making the restrictions permanent.
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The bill would not have impacted local rent control ordinances in cities including San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco, Berkeley and Mountain View.
The bill’s opponents, including the state’s most powerful landlord and real estate groups, argued that additional regulations on rents would have discouraged new housing construction because they would make it more difficult for developers to turn a profit.
They also pointed to academic studies showing that in areas with rent control, tenants are less likely to move, and some landlords opt to stop renting out their units. Fewer available rentals can mean higher prices for units that are not rent-controlled, or when new tenants move in.
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