California renters facing COVID-19 financial hardship would be
protected from eviction until July a legislative proposal that
Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats are expected to formally announce
Monday.
California courts are bracing for eviction cases to double over
the next year as pandemic-related financial woes deepen for
thousands of renters across the state.
Landlords are expected to file 240,000 new eviction cases — twice
what occurs in a typical year, according to estimates by
state court officials. The projection takes into account the
looming expiration of state eviction protections, which end in
late January.
California courts are bracing for eviction cases to double over
the next year as pandemic-related financial woes deepen for
thousands of renters across the state.
Landlords are expected to file 240,000 new eviction cases — twice
what occurs in a typical year, according to estimates by
state court officials. The projection takes into account the
looming expiration of state eviction protections, which end in
late January.
A group of California Democrats wants Gov. Gavin Newsom to set
aside billions of dollars in additional funding to help tenants
keep up with their rent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eighteen Assembly members and senators said in prepared
statements that setting aside $5 billion in the state budget
specifically for renters will help prevent evictions and
homelessness during a public health emergency that’s already
exacerbated income inequity in the Golden State.
Some of the hottest properties in Napa these days start with the
letter M — but they aren’t mansions, and they don’t cost a
million. The M stands for mobile and manufactured homes. “The
mobile home market in Napa County has taken off,” said Gerrett
Snedaker of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate|Wine Country
Group.
Regions of California where hospitals are in danger of overload
will be subject to a new stay-at-home order, with some parts of
the state projected to reach that point later this week, Gov.
Gavin Newsom announced Thursday.
People who live in mobile home parks are in a precarious
position: They own the homes they live in, but rent the space
underneath them. And few receive the protections that other types
of renters enjoy.
In El Dorado County, where a new mobile park owner is offering
decades-long leases, residents fearing displacement are hoping
elected officials step in. While dozens of California counties
and cities have passed protections of their own, few statewide
rules exist.
The California Apartment Association representing landlords
oppose Prop. 21, claiming it will make the crisis worse because
investors won’t want to build new apartments.
“Opponents say the very fact that you do rent control will
actually reduce the number of rental units and reduce the
investment in rental housing and affordable housing,” says
Fernando Guerra, a Political Science Professor at Loyola
Marymount University. “While the intention is good, the reality
is that it’ll make the rental environment even much worse and
actually end up increasing rent.
On the ridge, some Camp Fire survivors who cannot afford to
rebuild and still live in trailers are feeling pushed out of the
town, watching friends face fines and evictions.
Those who haven’t started rebuilding after the Camp Fire are
often still waiting for insurance funds to know if they can
afford to stay, and some say they were not able to get permits in
time before the Town Council suspended those for temporary use
camping.
On Sept. 22, the Yucaipa Mobilehome Rent Review Commissioners met
to continue the hearing from Aug. 25, for an increase of rent to
the residents of Valley View Mobile Home Park by Augusta
Communities, LLC.
This is a horrible idea for reasons that go beyond the insanity
of imposing the largest property tax hike in state history on
employers during a deep recession — and beyond the fact that the
cost of the tax hikes would be largely passed on to consumers
during a deep recession. Approving Proposition 15 is not about
preserving essential government services, as advocates assert. It
is about preserving generous government pensions that threaten to
bankrupt government agencies across the state.
On Aug. 31, 2020, Governor Newsom signed into law a bill that
provides additional economic protection to residents of
mobilehome parks. Assembly Bill 2782 will amend current state law
to allow for local rent control regulations to apply to long-term
space leases in mobilehome parks.
Three landlords across the state are suing to stop the Judicial
Council of California’s eviction moratorium, arguing the council
has exceeded its powers and should allow some delinquent renters
to be removed from their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lawyers for the landlords say the council’s temporary ban on
state courts handling eviction hearings is unconstitutional, and
any protections should be enacted by the legislature.
READ MORE
Californians must wear masks in all indoor public spaces under a
mandate announced Thursday by Gov. Gavin Newsom designed to slow
the spread of COVID-19.
The new rules require face coverings when people are riding in
taxis and rideshare cars, taking public transit, standing in line
to enter a building or walking through common areas like
hallways, stairways, elevators and parking garages.
The city of Sacramento has asked a judge to allow it to keep a
rent control initiative off the Nov. 3 ballot.
The lawsuit, which the city filed Monday in Sacramento County
Superior Court, names Michelle Pariset as a defendant.
Pariset is one of three women who were listed as “proponents”
when their 2018 ballot initiative gathered more than 44,000
signatures, enough to qualify it for the city ballot.
A Democratic plan to give struggling California tenants 10
years to make up rent gone unpaid during the coronavirus is
taking shape in the state Senate, right in time for a key vote
Thursday.
The proposal, backed by Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins,
D-San Diego, and Senate Majority Leader Bob Hertzberg, D-Van
Nuys, would send immediate relief, once it’s passed, to renters
who’ve faced job loss or wage cuts amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
A bid by some Los Angeles leaders to enact a blanket ban on
evictions during the novel coronavirus crisis failed on a 6-7
vote on Wednesday, April 22, held toward the end of a nearly
nine-hour meeting in which the council adopted other measures
aimed at providing protections to workers and relief to
Angelenos.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and his counterparts in Washington and Oregon
announced “a regional pact to recovery” from the coronavirus
crisis on Monday and agreed to work together to develop a plan to
lift restrictions on daily life and reopen economies along the
West Coast.
WMA is doing everything possible to keep our members informed on
the fast moving developments concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here is a list of Frequently Asked Questions we’ve compiled
to help as you navigate this unprecedented time in our industry.
On March 4, 2020 California Governor Newsom declared
a statewide state of emergency regarding the coronavirus
(COVID-19). The declaration is focused on response and
preparation to avoid the spread of the virus. Click here to
read more on the price gouging law preventing rent
increases above 10%.
Home builders have lobbied for years to cut the fees that local
governments can charge them to offset the effects their projects
have on roads, police and other public services, arguing that the
additional costs make construction prohibitively expensive in
California.
The cost of building new housing in California is too damn high.
And one reason is all the pricey development fees layered on new
apartments, single-family homes and even affordable housing
projects.
Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva introduced Assembly Bill 2895
(AB 2895) at a press conference at Fullerton City Hall on
February 21. The bill will provide rent increase protections for
Californians who own a mobile home but rent the land that the
home resides on from the “land or park” owner.
California Democrats unveiled on Monday a package of eight
proposals that attempt to spur construction of new homes by
slashing some of the fees that local governments charge for
building permits.
Shell-shocked and anxious, mobile home residents near Redwood
City are still reeling after suddenly receiving a notice that the
owners of the park hope to sell the site to make way for
apartments.
During a visit to Clayton Homes as part of the “Driving
Affordable Housing Across America Bus Tour,” U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson
announced a final rule on formaldehyde emissions for
manufactured homes, and a proposed rule to revise the
federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards to
expedite construction and update safety requirements for carbon
monoxide detectors in manufactured housing.
Jarryd Gonzales, regional representative for the Western
Manufactured Housing Communities Association, which represents
park owners, also warned of decreasing home values.
“Making changes to the ordinance that would change the capital
improvement process and discourage investments is not good for
park owners, park residents or the city,” he said.
WMA issues this alert to Master Metered Mobilehome Parkowners (MM
MHPs) to warn that you may unknowingly risk civil and criminal
liability if you charge your submetered tenants a different
electric generation rate than the one you pay to your provider.
MHI informs us that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) has issued guidance clarifying how housing
providers can comply with the Fair Housing Act (the Act) when
assessing a person’s request to have an assistance animal reside
in their home because of a disability. MHI has been working with
HUD, with input from its state associations, to address this
issue as more manufactured home community owners and operators
are being presented with this scenario and the potential it has
for violating the Act.
Thirty-seven mobile home parks were damaged or destroyed by the
fire and most were reserved for ages 55 and up. Only a dozen
mobile home parks so far have been able to get permits
to start repairs, despite the desperate need for affordable
housing in the area.
The story of the parks is important because the wholesale
destruction has revealed gaps in the public and private response
to disasters in mobile home parks, according to interviews with
owners and state and local officials and public records. Most
owners had vastly inadequate insurance and might not be able to
cover the costs of repairs. Confusion about jurisdiction over the
parks — including among government officials themselves — has led
to delays and frustrations.
Long Beach Press Telegram, December 11, 2019 Hayley Munguia
A local law governing rent hikes in mobile home parks won’t be
coming to Long Beach any time soon.
The City Council voted unanimously at its Tuesday, Dec. 10,
meeting to receive a report on the concept without directing city
staff to create a potential ordinance or prohibition on rent
increases in mobile home parks.
The decision brought an end to the months-long debate over
whether tenant protections that had been enshrined in local and
state laws should be extended to people living in mobile homes.
A local law governing rent hikes in mobile home parks won’t be
coming to Long Beach any time soon.
The City Council voted unanimously at its Tuesday, Dec. 10,
meeting to receive a report on the concept without directing city
staff to create a potential ordinance or prohibition on rent
increases in mobile home parks.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Wednesday announced he’s
backing a campaign to raise taxes on business
properties in California, joining powerful unions in
supporting a proposal that would raise money for schools and
local governments.
Less than a year after California voters decisively rejected
Proposition 10, backers of that measure say they are close to
qualifying a similar rent control initiative for the November
2020 ballot.
A new effort to revise California’s landmark Proposition 13 would
boost taxes on large corporations and businesses, but opponents
are complaining that’s almost an afterthought in the state
attorney general’s new title and summary of the proposed
initiative.
RENT CONTROL is back. Economists have long criticized government
price controls on apartments, a concept that had its first
moment in the 1920s and that some cities reintroduced in a
modified form in the 1970s. Now, decades later, California and
Oregon are moving forward with statewide rent-control laws.
READ MORE
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders released a $2.5-trillion housing
policy plan on Tuesday that aims to end homelessness in the U.S.
and enact a national cap on annual rent increases.
READ MORE
During his campaign for governor, Newsom set a goal of building
3.5 million new units of housing by 2025. Nothing that occurred
in the Capitol this year would even begin to make that
happen.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and top Democrats announced Friday
evening that they have reached an agreement to place limits on
how much landlords can increase a tenant’s rent each year.
The compromise offers a stronger path forward for Assembly Bill
1482, which cleared a key budget committee earlier on
Friday.
There was a jarring reality check in the Legislature last week
for interest groups plotting to change Proposition 13 and raise
property taxes on major businesses.
The reality is that raising any taxes will be very hard to sell
voters.
Organizers of a 2020 “split-roll” initiative that would generate
billions of dollars through higher commercial property taxes
intend to scrap a ballot proposal they’ve already qualified and
file a new version Tuesday that provides additional protections
for small businesses and other changes aimed at boosting voter
support.
Ever since Proposition 13, California’s iconic property tax
limit, was passed by voters in 1978, unions and their political
allies have yearned to either repeal or modify it. After years of
cogitation, they gathered enough voter signatures to put their
“Schools and Communities First” measure on the ballot.
California voters made their views on rent control clear last
November when they rejected Proposition 10 by nearly 20
percentage points.
While Californians face an unprecedented housing crisis, they
understood that rent control doesn’t work. Period. Instead,
it discourages development that’s essential for bringing down
housing prices.
Apparently Gov. Gavin Newsom and Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San
Francisco, didn’t get the message.
On Wednesday, he announced his support for Assembly
Bill 1482 by Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, which with
some big exceptions would limit annual rent increases statewide
to 7% plus inflation for the next three years. Newsom wants Chiu
to be even stricter in limiting rate hikes.
An effort to cap annual rent increases in California received a
boost Wednesday when Gov. Gavin Newsom embraced the idea and said
he wants even more restrictions than currently planned.
“I’m hopeful … that I will get on my desk in the very near term a
rent cap bill because it is long overdue in the state of
California,” Newsom said at a Wednesday event in Los
Angeles unveiling new funding to protect renters from
evictions.
READ MORE
A long-awaited study detailing how much cities and counties
charge developers to build housing in California found that such
costs are often hidden, vary widely across the state and have
slowed growth.
While public agencies are spending billions of dollars to fund
affordable housing projects and homeless shelters, they have no
plan to increase California’s stock of manufactured homes, the
nation’s most affordable source of unsubsidized housing.
Justice denied, or only justice delayed? After more than three
decades, property owners have finally regained the right to sue
for a taking of their property in federal court! If you’re
wondering how this could ever have been in question, a little
Supreme Court history is in order.
Attempting to strike a balance between the interests of renters
and property owners, Inglewood approved a rent control ordinance
this week that caps increases at 5% — lower than first proposed —
but imposes protections against unfair evictions.
Landlords and realtor groups earned a win in the California
Capitol this week after lawmakers shelved a bill to restrict
evictions and amended another to limit caps on rent.
The No on Measure F campaign has vastly outspent the campaign in
favor of the measure, which would introduce rent stabilization at
Vineyard Valley Mobile Home Park.
READ MORE
A closely-watched bill that would ban steep rent hikes throughout
California has been softened — slightly — in effort to win over
skeptics as a legislative deadline looms.
The law would sunset after 10 years, and it would no longer apply
to properties built within the past decade, a rolling exemption
that would end once a building hit the 10-year mark.
READ MORE
A bill aimed at protecting California tenants from “egregious”
rent hikes cleared a key hurdle in the state Legislature today,
less than 24 hours after pro-tenant groups learned their latest
try to expand tighter rent controls throughout California is
flailing in the Capitol.
Welcome to the world of the $70 million trailer park, which could
only happen in California. The backdrop for this economic
insanity is the city of Palo Alto, which is in Silicon Valley,
and where the median-priced home is nearly $4,000,000, according
to Zillow.
READ MORE
Gov. Gavin Newsom signaled on Thursday that he wants to sign some
kind of housing affordability law just after a controversial rent
control proposal cleared its first committee in the Legislature.
Read More
Several Highland mobile home residents asking for “rent
stabilization” during the March 26 City Council meeting learned
that should the city pass such an ordinance California law
exempts their long-term mobile home leases from the rent control.
During the last City Council meeting, several Highland mobile
home residents took the public comment opportunity to voice
complaints about conditions and rising costs at their mobile home
parks asking the council to consider placing a rent control
ordinance on a future meeting agenda.
ST. HELENA — A lawsuit is challenging the wording of a June 4
ballot measure that will determine the fate of rent stabilization
at St. Helena’s only mobile home park.
Tom Vence, a Vineyard Valley Mobile Home Park resident who
described himself last October as the park’s weekend manager,
filed suit in Napa County Superior Court on March 25. His suit
claims that the City Council’s agreed-upon ballot language for
Measure F violates state laws requiring ballot questions to be
truthful and impartial.
The Arcata City Council directed city staff to research the
possibility of placing a temporary ban on the closure and
conversion of mobile home parks to a different use Wednesday
night.
A ban on closing and converting mobile home parks for other use
would allow time for the city to create zoning that would protect
mobile home park residents from the threat of eviction. Once a
zoning type for mobile home parks is in place, securing land use
for mobile home parks alone, the city could then create an
ordinance according to these zoning protections.
A lawsuit is challenging the wording of a June 4 ballot measure
that will determine the fate of rent stabilization at St.
Helena’s only mobile home park.
Tom Vence, a Vineyard Valley Mobile Home Park resident who
described himself last October as the park’s weekend manager,
filed suit in Napa County Superior Court on March 25. His suit
claims that the City Council’s agreed-upon ballot language for
Measure F violates state laws requiring ballot questions to be
truthful and impartial.
Mobile home park residents in Anaheim and Fullerton may see any
planned rent increases capped soon as council members consider
rent increase relief options after seniors petitioned both city
councils in March.
The Pleasanton City Council has ratified a new rent stabilization
agreement with the owners of Hacienda Mobile Home Park on
Vineyard Avenue that allows annual increases of no more than 5%
through December 2029, when the terms of the agreement expire.
Two months ago, when the Public Policy Institute of California
asked the state’s residents to name the top issues that newly
inaugurated Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature should address,
immigration was No. 1.
Jobs and environmental issues followed, with “homelessness” a
distant fourth, cited by just 6 percent of those surveyed.
The new owner of a senior mobile home park straddling the border
of Fullerton and Anaheim is pulling back on monthly rent
increases of more than $200 for nearly 400 residents until at
least Sept. 1, saying the company had done “too much, too soon.”
“The increasing concerns that were being voiced by the residents
required a pause and an opportunity to initiate a dialogue with
those residents to better understand their concerns,” said Peter
Whittingham, a spokesman for Saunders Property Company, which
purchased the Rancho La Paz Mobilehome Park last month.
The Pasadena City Council on Monday approved an expanded set of
protections for people who rent their homes, which officials say
strikes a compromise between the interests of tenants and their
landlords.
Renter advocates last year pushed the council to
strengthen the city’s 2004 tenant protection law,
last updated in 2017, after apartment renters at a South
Roosevelt Avenue property were told to pack their bags within 60
days after the building changed hands.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday he’s continuing to work
with state lawmakers on what he hopes will be a deal to stabilize
California’s rising rents.
“We’ve been working behind the scenes with a number of the key
parties and participants to see if there is a — forgive the
vernacular — a deal on this that could be a constructive first
step,” Newsom told reporters after hosting a roundtable on
affordable housing in Sacramento. “I’m not wedded to any specific
proposal right now.”
There’s long been a somewhat competitive relationship between the
power of governors and legislators to make law and the ability of
voters to overturn what the politicians wrought and/or make law
themselves via the initiative process.
However in recent years that relationship has evolved from merely
competitive to something approaching hostility.
Proponents of rent control, which is threatening to make a
comeback in the California Legislature, often portray the
opposition as consisting entirely of landlords and developers.
The implication is that the unbridled greed of real estate
interests is all that stands in their way.
In the wake of a failed ballot measure to expand rent control,
California Democratic lawmakers are introducing a host of new
measures that aim to increase protections for tenants.
The bills, unveiled Thursday, include efforts to prevent
landlords statewide from raising rents above a to-be-determined
level, and to let cities and counties restrict rents on more
apartments than currently allowed.
A group of Assembly Democrats introduced a bundle of housing
bills on Thursday, signaling to Gavin Newsom that they were ready
to work with him on fulfilling one of the new
governor’s campaign promises.
In that package is Assembly Bill 1482, a measure that would
cap annual rent increases. The bill would not apply to local
ordinances or units already under rent control.
California is a costly place to live. Homes cost 2.5 times the
national average and rents are 50 percent higher than the
national average. According to the non-partisan State Legislative
Analyst’s Office, California’s housing crisis is fueled by a lack
of supply and high demand.
Californians not only understand this, they feel it. In a recent
CNBC poll, the high cost of homeownership was the leading reason
why 53 percent of Californians are considering leaving the state,
a jump over the 49 percent polled last year and this view is
strongest among millennials (63 percent).
The City Council put off a decision on a mobile home rent
protection ordinance this week after over a dozen speakers told
the council it simply wasn’t ready as proposed. The mobile home
rent stabilization ordinance would have allowed a renter to have
their rent reviewed by a city staff member on increases over 4
percent annually.The ordinance will be similar to the city’s rent
review policy for apartments, which offers mediation between
tenants and property owners on disputes once rent is increased by
a certain threshold.
After San Leandro mobile home owners, many seniors with limited
means, spoke Monday night of suffering harassment by their mobile
home park owners, along with fears of retaliation, the San
Leandro City Council voted to continue an agenda item that would
have given them some protections from displacement.
The council, which unanimously voted to direct staff to further
study the proposed ordinance, also accepted a “gentlemen’s
agreement” offered by the city’s nine mobile home park owners to
not raise rents for 90 days, while they meet with city staff.
It’s no secret that California is a very expensive place to live.
California homes are being sold at two-and-half times the
national average and rents are twice as much.
Perhaps, there is no greater example that the dream of home
ownership is dead than a taxpayer-financed housing project in San
Jose.
In an attempt to slow displacement and upheaval in communities
where rents are rising faster than incomes, Oregon has just
adopted the nation’s first statewide rent control law, capping
the annual increase landlords may impose on tenants. Sounds
dramatic? Well, it could happen in California too, where Gov.
Gavin Newsom and California lawmakers are discussing similar
efforts to stabilize rents amid a long-term, crisis-level
housing shortage.
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed the nation’s
first statewide mandatory rent control measure on Thursday,
giving a victory to housing advocates who say spiraling rent
costs in the economically booming state have fueled widespread
homelessness and housing insecurity.
Brown, a Democrat, said the legislation will provide “some
immediate relief to Oregonians struggling to keep up with rising
rents and a tight rental market.”
At last! Democracy prevails! Residents of Vineyard Valley as well
as those registered in the City of St. Helena will be allowed to
vote on their preference for or against the Rent Stabilization
Ordinance recently passed by the city council. The ordinance
applies only to Vineyard Valley.
What happened to all that talk about rent control?
Less than four months after an initiative to allow
cities to expand rent control failed overwhelmingly at the ballot
box, and less than four months after then-incoming Gov. Gavin
Newsom talked about brokering a compromise between tenant and
landlord groups, no new legislation from lawmakers or specific
proposals from the Newsom administration have been introduced to
cap how much rents can rise.
SANTA CRUZ — New legislation proposed by a Monterey Bay state
assemblyman would strengthen protections for mobile home
residents facing displacement, in the name of California’s
affordable housing goals.
The issue of rent stabilization at Vineyard Valley Mobile Home
Park could be decided by St. Helena voters as early as June.
The City Council directed staff Tuesday to come back with a
resolution calling a special election at the earliest possible
date, which staff said would be June 4.
California might be about to undermine the best argument it has
to attract new business and jobs. A ballot initiative has
qualified to eliminate the protections against property tax
increases guaranteed by Proposition 13, to the extent applied to
business property. The importance of Proposition 13 to job growth
in our state has to be better understood: at present, our state’s
political leaders appear primed to support this change.
WATSONVILLE — The city of Watsonville is moving forward with new
zoning protections for its mobile and manufactured homes, the
latest step in an ongoing effort to ensure an adequate supply of
affordable housing for low-income residents.
Under the new rules, each of Watsonville’s nine mobile home parks
would be protected from development unless a special use permit
is granted for a narrow range of other high-priority land uses,
such as churches, cemeteries, child care centers and schools.
Oceanside plans to better regulate its short-term vacation
rentals by hiring a full-time enforcement officer, requiring
licenses and annual fees, and streamlining the tax collection
process.
The proposal outlined by first-term Councilman Chris Rodriguez
got the City Council’s unanimous approval Wednesday, along with
the stipulation that details of the program be worked out by city
staffers and ready for the council’s consideration in 120 days.
CHICO, Calif. — The Paradise Town Council met in the Chico City
Council chambers on Wednesday night, to discuss Paradise’s
post-Camp Fire housing shortage.
FEMA may be putting trailers on private property in Paradise, to
temporarily solve the housing crisis. Manufactured homes on
private parcels already make up 14-percent of single family
residences, in Paradise.
But, what FEMA is proposing is slightly different.
After years of bitter back-and-forth with resistant neighbors,
the newly elected San Jose City Council pushed ahead with a
project to house formerly homeless people southeast of Willow
Glen in converted shipping containers.
The council approved a rezoning request that will allow the
containers to be placed and turned into 60 permanent supportive
housing units on Evans Lane near Canoas Gardens Ave.
The price tag? Some $600,000 per unit, or $2,500 per square foot,
according to Rachel VanderVeen, a deputy director in the city’s
Housing Department.
It’s been almost 41 years since Proposition 13 passed in 1978,
lowering property taxes for every home, apartment building,
commercial structure, farm and parking lot in California.
Through almost all that time, the initiative sponsored by
longtime anti-tax gadflies Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann remained a
sacred cow, a third rail that election officials and candidates
of every stripe feared to touch for fear of political
electrocution.
SANTA CRUZ — The Santa Cruz City Council took the first step
toward reviving recently lapsed landlord eviction limits Tuesday,
putting in place temporary rules for up to a year in a 4-3 vote
just before midnight.
If the council gives final approval to the interim ordinance with
a second vote at a coming meeting, landlords once again will need
to ensure they have “just cause” for their tenant evictions.
Acceptable eviction reasons range from failure to pay rent to
nuisance violations.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom says conversations are underway on
rent stabilization, after voters rejected a rent control ballot
measure last fall.
Newsom spoke Tuesday in San Jose at a roundtable discussion on
California’s housing crisis, saying the state is speaking with
housing industry groups about possible next steps following
the defeat of Proposition 10 in November.
Opponents of rent stabilization at Vineyard Valley Mobile Home
Park have gathered enough signatures to force the City Council to
repeal the new ordinance or put it on the ballot.
Opponents needed to collect 344 valid signatures, equivalent to
10 percent of St. Helena’s registered voters. They submitted 579
signatures, and of the 364 checked by the Napa County Election
Division, 345 were confirmed to be valid.
Over strong objections from the owners of Vineyard Valley Mobile
Home Park, the St. Helena City Council voted 3-2 Tuesday in favor
of an ordinance that would cap rent increases for some of the
park’s residents.
Councilmembers Paul Dohring, Geoff Ellsworth and Mary Koberstein
voted for the new rent stabilization ordinance, with Mayor Alan
Galbraith and Councilmember Peter White voting against it. The
ordinance will undergo a few modifications before coming back to
the council for final adoption.
A hard-fought and controversial campaign to expand rent control
in California, home to some of the priciest housing markets in
the nation, was defeated Tuesday night.
Proposition 10, the measure to broaden rent control’s reach by
repealing a state law restricting its use, trailed throughout the
night as it was soundly rejected by the state’s voters.
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