Below are questions asked by rental property owners regarding California rent control laws followed by answers provided by Attorney Richard Beckman.
Question 1: Why am I seeing lots of references to ‘Prop 33’?
Answer 1: Called the ‘Justice for Renters Act’, Proposition 33 is now on the November 5th ballot. If passed, it would, essentially, repeal a current law, known as the Costa Hawkins Act, which was passed in 1995, and which prohibits cities and counties from imposing rent control on any building built after 1995 (or on any building built after the local rent control law took effect), and on single family homes and condominiums.
If passed, Prop 33 would give local jurisdictions in California significantly more power to regulate rents, allowing them to put price caps on homes and situations where they currently cannot. It would also allow such localities to impose what is known as ‘vacancy control,’ which means the local rent board could set the rental amount for new tenancies, regardless of how the prior tenancy ended. Eliminating Berkeley’s version of vacancy control was one of the primary aspects of the Costa Hawkins Act. If Proposition 33 passes, local governments wouldn’t be required to regulate rents on such properties, but they could if they wanted to.
It is also worth noting that the Tenant Protection Act, passed in 2019, which imposed statewide rent and eviction control, does impose such restrictions even on rental units that would be exempt from rent control if they were subject to a local version of rent and eviction control. The exemption from both forms of control applies to ‘new construction,’ which is defined as units built within the last 15 years. That act would not be impacted by Prop 33.
Question 2: Can you provide information/article regarding the landlord’s responsibility to provide a pest free dwelling?
Answer 2: Basically, the property owner or manager has a duty to provide premises that are free from conditions that promote the presence of ‘pests’ (e.g. insects, vermin, rodents etc). This includes making the building secure against entry by such creatures, and requires ‘clean and sanitary’ buildings, grounds, and appurtenances (for example, a garden or a detached garage), free from debris, filth, rubbish, garbage, rodents, and vermin at the inception of the tenancy and areas within the landlord’s control during the tenancy, including adequate trash receptacles in good repair. Civ. Code, § 1941.1.
The tenant is responsible – to a degree – for maintaining those conditions, as stated in the companion Civil Code Section 1941.2: “No duty on the part of the landlord to repair a dilapidation shall arise under Section 1941 or 1942 if the tenant is in substantial violation of any of the following affirmative obligations, provided the tenant’s violation contributes substantially to the existence of the dilapidation or interferes substantially with the landlord’s obligation under Section 1941 to effect the necessary repairs:
(1) To keep that part of the premises, which he occupies and uses, clean and sanitary as the condition of the premises permits.
(2) To dispose from his dwelling unit of all rubbish, garbage and other waste, in a clean and sanitary manner.”
I think this article, written for tenants, is a good summary of the issue.
https://landlordtenantresource.com/are-landlords-responsible-for-pest-control-in-california/
Question 3: When inspecting the required exterior mounted fire extinguishers on the exterior walls of an apartment complex, I discovered that the labels for the types of fires ABC have become sun worn and unreadable. Is it allowable to replace those labels and not have to replace the entire fire extinguisher with a new one?
Answer 3: Depending on the condition of the extinguisher, it can be recharged. For background, fire extinguishers are hand-held pressurized units that contain an agent to fight fire – which might be a chemical, foam, or water. They are usually marked for fighting four different fire types, including the following:
- Type A Fire: Which is composed of such ordinary combustible materials like paper and wood
- Type B Fire: Comprised of flammable liquids like grease or gasoline
- Type C Fire: Involves such electrical equipment as circuit breakers and appliances
- Type D Fire: This includes combustible metals and chemicals, and is usually found in chemical labs and industrial facilities.
The Office of the State Fire Marshal’s (OSFM), is the licensing and certification authority for portable fire extinguishers that are serviced and sold in California. This program also ensures that the California Standards are met for these life saving devices. All portable fire extinguishers, like those in your homes or businesses, must meet the manufacturing and performance standards of a testing laboratory approved by the OSFM and display that laboratory’s label. Licenses are issued to companies allowing them to engage in the business of, or perform for a fee, the servicing, charging and maintenance of portable fire extinguishers. You should search for such a company via the internet, or contact the state agency below for assistance.
Fire Extinguisher Program Contact: [email protected]
Question 4: We announced a rent increase with proper service to all applicable tenants on June 1st for our tenants subject to the state rent control law that we learned lowered the amount of increase for notices after July. We gave our tenants a 60-day notice of rent increase, so the new amount was to take effect September 1st. At the time we served the notice, the highest allowable rate was 9.2%. Are we locked into that amount, or must we adjust to the new 8.8%?
Answer 4: It depends on when the increase is to take effect, not when it was served.
For rent increases in Alameda County that take/took effect between August 1, 2023 and July 31, 2024, the allowed amount was 5% plus 4.2% = 9.2%
For rent increases that take/took effect between August 1, 2024 and July 31, 2025, that amount is reduced to 5% plus 3.8% = 8.8%.
Thus, your increase would need to be amended to reflect the lower amount.
Question 5: My Oakland apartment building, built in 1998, was exempt from both rent control and eviction control until the law changed a couple of years ago to remove the ‘new construction’ exemption from eviction control for buildings built after 1995, changing it to only apply to buildings built within the last ten years. I am not sure if I need to register my units with the rent board since they are still exempt from rent control.
Answer 5: You should be aware by now of the concept of the Oakland Rent Registry, and how it applies to units that are subject to either the “Rent Adjustment Program,” (RAP, rent control) or the ‘Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance’ (eviction control). Despite the fact that your units were previously exempt from both, as new construction, when the eviction ordinance was changed recently, it changed that particular exemption of the ‘just cause’ ordinance to only apply to buildings built in the last 10 years. So, even though you are still exempt from the rent control aspect, the unit is required to be registered as subject to the ‘just cause’ provision. A primary consequence of failure to register is a defense to a tenant who’s otherwise subject to eviction (for one reason or another). Thus, you want to avoid that significant benefit to the tenant and insure your units are properly registered, by going to the Oakland Rent Board website, which will direct you to the registry section.
Question 6: We have been contacted by a Community Organization Faith in the Valley with a letter stating a list of “grievances” obtained by our tenants. This group went to our buildings and asked people to list their grievances and is asking to meet with us to go over them and get them resolved or they state they will report us to the “county housing inspector”. Any advice on how to deal with this? Their list is completely unsubstantiated and/or false, and without specifics, saying general things like discrimination, rent increases (we abide by rent control) utilities (RUBS) and lack of improvements. They actually state that, “there are no improvements” which would indicate the tenants live in a field. If there are no improvements, why would tenants repeatedly pay us rent? This is a class C, but it’s one of the lowest priced apartments in the county.
Answer 6: It is hard to say from your brief statement whether agreeing to meet with them to address their concerns would be a reasonable response. However, if you do, and they see the tenants’ complaints are unfounded, that will likely be the end of their matter. If their complaints appear substantiated, then you would be on notice of things that need to be taken care of, which is ultimately to your, and the tenants’ benefit.
Question 7: I just gave a tenant a 60 day notice of a rent increase that goes into effect in September. However, I’d now like to send a new 60 day notice to increase the rent more than the first notice did, effective October. Will the new notice supersede the previous one, or will the tenant get a pro bono lawyer and claim I’m raising rent twice in a year?
Answer 7: I would need more information to answer your question. But if your total increase is less than 10%, it only needs a 30 day notice. Assuming the increase itself is permitted (under either the state Tenant Protection Act of any local rent control ordinance), I would serve an amended notice to withdraw the first one, making the increase effective the same time as the first notice, But any increase over 10% requires a 90 day notice.
Question 8: Does the new security deposit law (1x monthly rent maximum) include pet deposits as well? Please confirm the total amount that can be held for security and pet deposits. I can’t imagine we are limited to 1x monthly rent for all deposits, but would like clarification please. Are we allowed to charge pet rent and/or a pet fee, either one time or monthly? Are there any other allowances or limitations regarding trying to adequately cover our costs for pet damage?
Answer 8: The change to the security deposit law that took effect July 1st limits security deposits to one month’s rental amount (unless your units are exempt from that law), which includes any amount that might be called ‘pet deposit.’ Right or wrong, the new law does not make the distinction between pet deposits and security deposits overall. The security deposit statute just calls all money received from the tenant on move in that is not for first month’s rent ‘security deposit’ and so the parties can call it whatever they want (pet deposit, security, key money) but it can’t exceed that one-month amount limit starting in July. You may be able, as a condition of offering the rental to new applicants, require the tenants to provide proof of insurance naming you as an insured for pet damage. I have not seen that, but I believe it could be done.
Richard Beckman, of Beckman, Feller & Chang P.C., has been practicing landlord-tenant law for over 26 years, primarily in rent-controlled jurisdictions such as San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley. He represents clients in a broad range of real estate-related disputes, including partition of co-ownership interests, purchase contract disputes, insurance coverage analysis and land use. Mr. Beckman also specializes in all aspects of landlord-tenant issues, representing landlords and tenants in residential and commercial matters. He can be reached at 510-548-7474; email [email protected] or by visiting the website www.bfc-legal.com.