REALTOR® PARTY PREVAILS AGAINST EFFORTS TO IMPOSE STRICT RENT CONTROLS AND UNDERMINE THE ELLIS ACT

REALTOR® PARTY PREVAILS AGAINST EFFORTS TO IMPOSE STRICT RENT CONTROLS AND UNDERMINE THE ELLIS ACT

With the collective effort of REALTORS® who sent emails and made phone calls and social media posts, C.A.R. lobbying was effective in defeating four rent control bills recently:

– AB 2050 (Lee and Carrillo), a bill attacking the rights of property owners by dismantling the Ellis Act and proposing to force owners to stay in the rental housing business for at least five years;
– AB 2469 (Wicks), which would have instituted a mandatory statewide registry forcing rental housing owners to annually record and submit proprietary business information or lose their property rights;
– AB 2410 (Karla), a bill proposing to stop rental housing providers seeking to sell their property to first start a year-long process before going to market; and,
– AB 2713 (Wicks, Bloom, and Grayson), which would have placed additional restrictions on how property owners can use their property under the Ellis Act.

At the same time, C.A.R. lobbying defeated AB 1771 (Ward), also with the help of our members.  This egregious attack on property rights proposed to apply a 25% tax on gains from the sale of a home when the home was sold within the first three years of purchase.

As these bills show, the Ellis Act is under threat in the State Legislature. A contingent of advocates have been making attempts to destroy the Act and weaken private property rights.  C.A.R. remains vigilant against these challenges, and instead, champions proposals that create homeownership opportunities to generate intergenerational wealth.