PROPOSITION 33

Expands Local Governments’ Authority to Enact Rent Control on Residential Property. Initiative Statute.

Not all cities have rent control, prop 33 will change that and give control to your city council member and county supervisor to implement rent control where necessary.

A YES vote on this measure means: State law would not limit the kinds of rent control laws cities and counties could have.

A NO vote on this measure means: State law would continue to limit the kinds of rent control laws cities and counties could have.

Repeals Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act of 1995, which currently prohibits cities from setting rent control and allowing landlords to stablish their own rental rates for new tenants or rent increases for existing tenants in certain residential properties.

Rental Housing Is Expensive in California. Renters in California typically pay about 50 percent more for housing than renters in other states. In some parts of the state, rent costs are more than double the national average. Rent is high in California because the state does not have enough housing for everyone who wants to live here. People who want to live here must compete with other renters for housing, which increases rents.

Several Cities Have Rent Control Laws. Some local governments in California have laws that limit how much landlords can increase rents from one year to the next. These laws often are called rent control. About one-quarter of Californians live in communities with local rent control. Examples of places with rent control are the Cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Jose. State Law Limits Rent Increases. In addition to local rent control laws, a state law prevents most landlords from increasing a tenant’s rent by more than 5 percent plus inflation (up to a total of 10 percent) in a year. This law lasts until 2030.

State Law Limits Local Rent Control. Another state law, known as the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act (Costa-Hawkins), limits local rent control laws in three main ways. First, rent control cannot apply to any single-family homes. Second, rent control cannot apply to any housing built on or after February 1, 1995. Third, rent control laws generally cannot tell landlords what they can charge a new renter when first moving in. Instead, rent control can only limit how much landlords increase rent for existing renters.