A few weeks ago I wrote about the prospect of the repeal of Costa-Hawkins act in California. This measure is being pushed by tenant rights groups claiming it will help with affordable housing. Although I do believe there is an affordable housing crisis, I do believe that the repeal of Costa-Hawkins would only be a short term relief and significantly hurt affordable housing in the long term. So what can cities do to address the affordable housing crisis?
Read MoreThere has been much talk in the news of the tenant advocate groups receiving enough signatures to add a measure in this November’s ballot to repeal Costa-Hawkins. The Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act is a California state law enacted in 1995 that placed limits on local rent control ordinances. Costa-Hawkins did not outlaw rent control, but instead placed two main limits to municipalities that had/have rent control: 1) It exempted certain types of buildings from rent control (Single Family Residences, Condominiums and new construction), and 2) it instituted vacancy decontrol (whereby the rents of a unit subject to rent control could be brought up to market rate upon a resident moving out.
Read MoreAlliance of Californians for Community Empowerment along with Michael Weinstein is proposing a new ballot measure to repeal the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act. The proposed ballot measure comes after the House Assembly bill AB 1506 failed to pass. To find out more about the proposed ballot measure, we sat down with Sturai Yusufi of Commercial Brokers International for an exclusive interview.
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