San Jose Assemblyman Ash Kalra has a new bill, AB 1157, known as the “Affordable Rent Act,” and Tenants United Anaheim enthusiastically supports it. It’s coming to its first vote tomorrow (THURSDAY April 24!) in the Assembly Housing Committee, and our Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva (representing west Anaheim, Fullerton, Buena Park, Cerritos & thereabouts) is on that committee. Please call Sharon at 916-319-2067 and ask her to vote yes.
AB 1157 will make life better for the 55% of Anaheim residents who are renters, it will reduce homelessness and displacement, and it will make it easier for folks who work in this town to stay here and stop the bleeding away of families out of Anaheim, which also leads to the reduction of our education funding.
Before we talk about this new bill, we have to talk about the weaknesses of the state law we have right now, the Tenant Protection Act of 2019. It was progress back in 2019, it was better than nothing, but it was a huge COMPROMISE. For one thing the 2019 law allows rents to be increased up to 10% every year, which is a huge amount. Literally rents can be raised by the cost of living PLUS FIVE PERCENT, and in many recent years that has MEANT 10%. We are not against landlords, they deserve to make a profit from their investments. But we ask, WHY SHOULD THEY INCREASE THEIR PROFITS BY 5% EVERY YEAR, on the backs of the working class?
This was the best the legislature could do in 2019, as it was a big compromise with the Apartment Association, the landlords’ lobbyist group. On top of that, the bill excludes various properties protected by Costa-Hawkins, it excludes mobile home parks who can still raise rents as high as they want, AND the bill is due to SUNSET in 2030, which is getting closer and closer – after that we’ll have NO Tenants Protection Act, and no rent caps.
The NEW bill is written by Assemblyman Ash Kalra of San Jose, and he points out everything that’s happened SINCE 2019: “A worldwide pandemic that cost people their jobs and incomes. The housing crisis has gotten worse. The rental market has gotten more expensive. The homelessness crisis has gotten worse.”
So this new bill AB 1157, the Affordable Rent Act, does three main things which will really help Anaheim renters keep their homes:
- It lowers the annual rent increase cap from 10% to 5%, or cost of living plus 2%.
- It covers more rental properties than before; and
- It makes the Tenant Protection Act permanent, removing the 2030 sunset.
Tenants United Anaheim, along with OCCORD and the statewide coalition Tenants Together, strongly supports AB 1157. We urge our lawmakers Sharon Quirk-Silva, Avelino Valencia and Tom Umberg to vote in support.
One last thing – Tenants United Anaheim is not against landlords per se. Many are good law-abiding businessmen who care about their tenants. But in more and more cases they are out-of-town corporations who wring as much as they can out of their people. And they are extremely well organized and well represented in government and the courts. Which is why Tenants United Anaheim is so important. You can find us at tuanaheim on Facebook and Instagram, and at tenantsunitedanaheim.org. Thank you.
From Capital & Main, a real good article about this bill.
What was the result?
It passed that committee with no changes, and SQS was a yes.
Lotsa more steps to get through. “Thru many dangers, toils and snares…”