On Your November Ballot: Prop 33 Will Allow Calif. Cities and Counties to Enact Rent Control

Edward Henderson | California Black Media(CBM) – Many cities in California limit the amount a landlord can raise rent each year. However, for nearly 30 years the state has imposed its own limits on the authority of local governments to enact rent control policies.Landlords across California are currently allowed to set their own rental rates when new tenants move in. Prop 33 would repeal the state law (the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act) prohibiting cities and counties from capping rents on single-family homes, condominiums and apartments built after 1995.By repealing the act, the initiative would allow cities and counties to limit annual rent increases on any residential housing and limit the initial rent for a first-time tenant. Any local laws currently inoperative under& Costa-Hawkins& would take effect upon its repeal.The initiative would also add language to California’s Civil Code prohibiting the state from limiting “the right of any city, county, or city and county to maintain, enact or expand residential rent control.”Justice for Renters, which is sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, is leading the campaign supporting the ballot initiative.& Proponents of the proposition focus their campaign on a popular slogan, “the rent is too damn high.” Nearly 30% of California...