Last Friday signaled the end of another tumultuous legislative
session amidst the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and
wildfires that have ravaged the state. Before adjourning, members
engaged in rigorous debate before advancing legislation on
various issues ranging from police reform to wildfire mitigation.
Assembly Bill 861 (Bennett), the subleasing bill, remains poised
to be soon brought up on the Senate floor.
Recent amendments to AB 861 (Bennett) exempt mobilehome parks
owned by non-profit entities from the bill’s provisions. WMA
remains opposed and maintains that this is an issue in search of
a problem since the proponents have at no time provided concrete
examples justifying the need for statewide legislation.
SUBLEASING BILL STILL AWAITING ACTION ON SENATE
FLOOR
Assembly Bill 861 (Bennett) continues to await action on the
Senate Floor. WMA opposes this measure that would prevent
parkowners from leasing out homes they own in their parks unless
they allow other tenants to sublease their homes.
Amendments to this legislation are expected to exempt certain
parks operating as non-profit entities; however, the bill has not
yet been amended.
EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMAL BILL MOVES BACK TO STATE
ASSEMBLY
LEGISLATURE RETURNS FOLLOWING MONTH-LONG SUMMER
RECESS
Both legislative houses resumed business on Monday following a
month-long summer recess. August 27 is the deadline to pass all
fiscal bills to the Assembly and Senate floors. September 10 is
the deadline to pass ALL bills to the Governor and marks
the end of the legislative session.
AB 889 (GIPSON) REPORTING REQUIREMENT BILL FAILS PASSAGE,
HELD IN POLICY COMMITTEE
AB 889 (Gipson) failed to gather the votes needed to pass the
Senate Judiciary Committee late yesterday. While the bill was
granted reconsideration, the Senate Judiciary Committee will not
meet again this year. Therefore, AB 889 is effectively dead for
the 2021 legislative session.
As amended, AB 889 requires corporate landlords to report owners
to the Secretary of State.
ATTENTION PARKOWNERS: AB 832 INFORMATIONAL NOTICE
AVAILABLE ON WMA WEBSITE
AB 832 took effect on June 28, 2021 and extends the COVID-19
Tenant Relief Act (CTRA), California’s statewide eviction
moratorium, through September 30, 2021, and continues protections
for renters related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
AB 832 requires parkowners to serve an informational notice on
all residents who, as of July 1, 2021, have unpaid rent payments
due on or after March 1, 2020. This notice must be served by July
31, 2021.
SUBLEASING BILL RESCHEDULED FOR JUNE 15 COMMITTEE HEARING
The Senate Judiciary Committee was set to hear AB 861 (Bennett),
the harmful subleasing bill, yesterday; however, due to mounting
concerns raised by both WMA and the California Mobilehome
Parkowners Alliance (CMPA), the bill has since been rescheduled
and will be heard on Tuesday, June 15.
RENT CONTROL, WATER SUBMETER BILLS REFERRED TO SENATE
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
We are pleased to announce that SB 64 by Senator Connie Leyva
(Democrat, Chino) is now a two-year bill and has been moved to
the Senate inactive file. SB 64 will not advance out of the
Senate this year. WMA could not have accomplished this without
the assistance of our members and their involvement with
VoterVoice, and WMA’s legislative team, which discussed the
bill’s deficiencies at length with legislative staff.
APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEES AUTHORIZE BILLS THAT SPEND
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS
The Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees met last
Thursday, and billions of dollars will be added to the State
Budget. Given that the Governor has signaled a $75 Billion
surplus, this is not entirely surprising but disappointing,
nonetheless.
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted upon a total of 357
measures. Of those, only 55 were held in committee. Similarly,
the Assembly Appropriations Committee voted upon 537 measures and
only held 121.
Last Friday, the Governor unveiled his May Revision to the State
Budget. The budget proposal now includes paying 100% of rent to
landlords that went unpaid due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
The state anticipates a $75 billion surplus and an additional $26
billion in federal aid. The full budget anticipates
spending over $267 billion, including state and federal funds.
Article Provided Courtesy of the California Apartment
Association (CAA) – Gov. Newsom today announced his intent
to pay rental housing providers 100% of rent that’s gone unpaid
because of COVID-19.
TRIO OF INDUSTRY BILLS PASSES COMMITTEE, WMA PREPARES FOR
FLOOR FIGHT
On Monday, the Assembly Housing and Community Development
Committee held a hearing solely to consider three
industry-specific bills.
WMA remained unwavering throughout our discussions with the
respective authors, their staff, and the committee consultant.
WMA staff also voiced our opposition and specific areas of
concern during committee testimony.
Earlier this week, the Assembly noticed that there would be a
hearing of the Assembly Housing and Community Development
Committee on May 3. They will be hearing a trio of bills directly
affecting the mobilehome park industry: Assembly Bill 861
(Bennett) dealing with subleasing, AB 978 (Quirk-Silva), the rent
control bill, and the water submetering bill, AB 1061 (Lee).
We are in discussions with key legislators, staff, and policy
consultants surrounding our respective position on these bills.
ONLINE RENTAL REGISTRY BILL AMENDED, SET FOR APRIL 29
HEARING
AB 1188 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (Democrat, Oakland) was
substantially amended, and the Assembly Housing Committee will
hear the bill on April 29.
As amended, AB 1188 (Wicks) requires HCD to retain data from
designated sources for at least ten years, including data on the
state rental assistance program, information submitted by
eligible grantees who received the federal funding, and data on
rental registries operated by local governments.
ONLINE RENTAL REGISTRY BILL WITHDRAWN FROM POLICY
COMMITTEE HEARING
Good news! AB 1188 was withdrawn from today’s Assembly Housing
Committee hearing agenda.
AB 1188 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (Democrat, Oakland) would
require local governments to establish their own online rental
registry portals by 2024. It would require landlords to register
and provide an exhaustive list of rental-related information.
Landlords would also be prohibited from raising rents or
terminating a tenancy if they fail to register.
SENATOR CONNIE LEYVA’S RESTRICTIVE RENT RELIEF BILL SENT
TO APPROPRIATIONS SUSPENSE FILE
WMA is pleased to announce that Senator Connie Leyva’s SB 64 was
placed on the Senate Appropriations Committee suspense file
yesterday. Those bills identified as having significant cost to
the state are sent to the suspense file.
The bill was recently amended to remove rental repayment
provisions addressed with prior legislation and narrowed to
prevent the ability of parkowners to issue 7-day notice
violations.
AB 81 PASSED BY LEGISLATURE AND SIGNED BY GOVERNOR NEWSOM
ON FEBRUARY 23, 2021
Follow-up urgency legislation signed by Governor Newsom clarifies
what legislators and the governor had previously
promised: Landlords will be paid a full 80% of the rent owed
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Previously signed legislation, SB 91, was not clear on this
point, providing that landlords would be paid “up to” 80%.
AB 81 clarifies this issue.
We are pleased to announce that Assemblymember Kelly Seyarto
(Republican, Riverside) has introduced AB 606 on WMA’s
behalf. AB 606 allows individuals to place 400 square feet
or less homes – also known as park models – on mobilehome park
spaces.
AB 606 re-defines “park trailers” and is an important technical
clarification that will require the Housing and Community
Development Department (HCD) to allow these homes to be placed in
currently regulated communities on a year-round basis.
