Sacramento Report
by Debra Carlton
In early May, the California Assembly Judiciary Committee heard and passed AB 2583 (D-Lieber), a bill that seeks to protect tenants from “harassing and abusive practices by some rental property owners.” Specifically the bill provides that a tenant’s refusal to give personal, private or financial information to a rental property owner does not constitute a breach of a lease or a rental agreement, whether written or oral. The bill does not apply to information required by the owner of a prospective tenant during the initial application process, nor does it apply to information that federal, state or local law requires an owner to collect. The California Apartment Association (CAA) has opposed this bill because, among other points, it would not allow rental property owners to update their records with a tenant’s contact information for the purposes of an emergency or the service of notices.
The bill was introduced by Assemblymember Lieber in response to a program in Los Angeles created by a landlord attorney who marketed a packet of materials, “The Landlord’s Solution,” to apartment owners. This attorney’s program required tenants to comply with new rules about their tenancy, such as how often they had to clean their apartments. Existing, long-term residents were also required to furnish detailed answers to a questionnaire that asked for their social security numbers, car registrations and insurance, photographs of each apartment resident, bank account information and sources of income. The admitted intent behind the program was to intimidate long-term tenants in rent-controlled units, forcing them to vacate the property when they refused to provide the information and, in this way, allowing the owner to set a higher rent with a new tenant.
Examples like this one continue to haunt the rental housing industry each year at the State Capitol. While this type of negative activity is rare and practiced by a limited number of owners and attorneys, it attracts the attention of legislators who use these negative examples in incendiary presentations to get the votes they need to successfully move their legislation.
Partly due to damaging reports like the one outlined above, the CAA’s Board of Directors has elected to take matters into their own hands. Tired of watching the press paint us with a broad brush and observing lawmakers report and pass laws based on the few unscrupulous actions of a limited number of owners, the CAA will move forward with its ethics and education campaign for rental property owners and residents. The cornerstone of the education campaign is the creation and distribution of a “Renter’s Brochure,” now available for distribution. This informational brochure targets renters in general, with a special emphasis on first-time renters. It is designed for CAA members to give to renters and prospective renters as part of the rental application kit. At the same time, CAA created it for distribution to elected officials, regulators, the media and key opinion leaders as a means of demonstrating our members’ commitment to help tenants and create a better-educated consumer.
Given that nearly half of the state’s residents are renters, the organized rental housing industry must work together to shed a clearer light on the positive work that CAA members do every day. At the same time, our organization must take corrective action in response to a few unscrupulous owners. If CAA fails to respond, the lawmakers will continue to craft these solutions; and, as many owners understand, most of these solutions negatively impact our entire industry
The opinions expressed in this article are those of necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the SFAA or the San Francisco Apartment Magazine. Debra Carlton is senior vice president of legislative affairs for the California Apartment Association and is CAA’s chief lobbyist. Copyright © 2004 by San Francisco Apartment Magazine. All Rights Reserved.