Affordable Housing Act – Renters Alliance

Beverly Hills City Council Endorses Prop 10

September 20, 2018June 9, 2019 Mark Elliot AAGLA, Affordable Housing Act, John Mirisch, Lester Friedman, Proposition 10

Beverly Hills City Council has endorsed Proposition 10 for the November ballot. If passed by voters, Proposition 10 would enact the Affordable Housing Act and thereby repeal the state’s Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act. That legislation was Sacramento’s “gift to landlords” as one said because it ties the hands of any city that has enacted rent control. Our city’s endorsement is a statement of support for local control and self-determination. Indeed City Council voted unanimously to endorse Prop 10!

Tenants Together says repeal costa hawkins

News

Affordable Housing Act Qualifies for the November Ballot

June 29, 2018January 16, 2022 Mark Elliot Affordable Housing Act, Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act

If Sacramento legislators won’t represent our interests then we have to do it ourselves! That’s the message sent by 447,834 voters to legislators when we signed a petition to put the Affordable Housing Act on the ballot this November. The measure would return to localities the authority to establish tenant protections that fit local needs. The state’s Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act had preempted local control. Finally Costa Hawkins repeal makes the November ballot!

Commentary

AAGLA Sees Ghosts in Prop 10’s Affordable Housing Act

May 29, 2018February 28, 2021 Mark Elliot AAGLA, Affordable Housing Act, Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act, Dan Yukelson

Last year Beverly Hills landlords saw their allowed annual rent increase drop from 10% to 3% and a city-imposed relocation fee for involuntarily-terminated households. They lost the battle for the rental unit registry and all landlords were compelled to get a business license when about one-in-ten had avoided it. If 2017 was a tough year then 2018 looks only worse should the Affordable Housing Act ballot initiative win approval from voters in November.

Affordable Housing Act initiative homepage

News

Costa Hawkins Repeal Headed for the Ballot?

May 28, 2018February 28, 2021 Mark Elliot Affordable Housing Act, Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act

California voters may have an opportunity in November to overturn the state’s Costa Hawkins law. It prevents localities like Beverly Hills from extending protections to all who rent housing — a “gift to landlords” (in their words) that has handcuffed local officials for decades. With the Affordable Housing Act initiative about to qualify for the ballot, the stakes are high. Let’s take a look at the proposed initiative’s objectives.

News

Statewide Efforts to Protect Tenants

April 12, 2018June 22, 2019 Mark Elliot AB 2219, AB 2343, AB 2364, AB 291, AB-2413, Affordable Housing Act

Surveys show that nearly one-third of us live paycheck-to-paycheck. Some of us pay over half of our household income in rent. The most effective way to keep precariously-housed tenants stable is up for debate, but numerous bills making their way though the California legislature offer some hope.

Explainer

Beverly Hills Affordable Housing Eligibility: What You Need to Know

July 24, 2023July 24, 2023 Mark Elliot

City of Beverly Hills has guidelines for prioritizing the eligibility of applicants for affordable housing: seniors get first shot then families with children, etc. The guidelines have been on the books for years. But only recently has there been an opportunity to use them as a few new deed-restricted affordable units became available. Looking ahead to the decade ahead, more affordable units will come online so we thought it helpful to describe the process of qualifying with a focus on the guidelines that help to determine eligibility.

Explainer