The Supreme Court may hear a challenge to New York State’s Rent Stabilization Law and opinion states that tenants and landlords would be much better off.
As reported in the NY Post, “in a case that promises to utterly upend New York politics — and boost the city’s housing market — the Supreme Court may soon strike down the essence of the rent control laws.”
Earlier this year, New York landlord groups asked the court to hear their challenge to the state Rent Stabilization Law, which lets the city cap rent hikes and gives tenants a virtually ironclad right to renew their leases or pass the property on to friends or family. The suit declares an unconstitutional “taking” of property, in violation of the Fifth Amendment.
A similar suit filed in 2019 was dismissed by the U.S. District Court and Second Court of Appeals, but lately, the Supreme Court has been backing up owners and standing up for property rights in several cases.
The Rent Stabilization Law, they argue, has had a “detrimental effect on owners and tenants alike and has been stifling New York City’s housing market for more than half a century.”
The Supreme Court was expected to decide as soon as September 26th whether or not they will hear the case. It was reported that if the court doesn’t act on this, NY City’s housing market is still “headed for disaster”. It was reported that one in five landlords is losing money and some will start walking away from the housing market – which is exactly what is happening in California.
Update on Action Alerts: ACA 1 and ACA 13 – Your Voices Were Heard! Thank You for Calling the Capitol!
Thank you for calling the Capitol to say “No on ACA 1” and “No on ACA 13,” two proposed constitutional amendments that attack Proposition 13. Your calls were heard throughout the Capitol.
On [August 23rd], the Assembly Appropriations Committee decided to leave ACA 1 in the “suspense file,” to await later action, or not. So, while it could still come back, it’s clear that the massive resistance by supporters of Prop. 13 threw some serious roadblocks in the path of this costly tax-increasing measure.
In the Assembly Elections Committee, unfortunately, ACA 13 did advance on a 5-2 vote with one nervous lawmaker refusing to vote at all. This dangerous proposal would make it harder to pass constitutional amendments that protect taxpayers, such as Prop. 13, and it would make it harder to restore Prop. 13’s protections when courts issue anti-taxpayer rulings that take them away. Although ACA 13 did pass in this first committee, your phone calls overwhelmed the Assembly’s phone system and your voices were heard.
To become law, both of these measures require a two-thirds vote in each house of the legislature to advance to the ballot, and then they require the approval of a majority of voters. We will keep fighting to stop them.
Thank you for protecting Proposition 13, and thank you for your support of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. We greatly appreciate you! Sincerely, Jon Coupal, President, HJTA
Landlords in Santa Ana are Now Required to Register All Rental Units!
Effective November 18, 2022, the city of Santa Ana adopted Ordinance No. NS-3027, known as the Rent Stabilization and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance (“Ordinance”). Under the Ordinance, the city must create a Rental Registry and all landlords with rental units in the city of Santa Ana must complete and submit registration forms for each rental unit.
The measures cap rent increases at 3% annually or 80% of inflation, whichever is less, as well as limits in which landlords can force tenants out.
The allowable rent increase for certain rental units will be 2.54% for the next year – an amount that will be set annually by the council.
The registry went live online earlier in August, and Santa Ana landlords will have to register their units annually and pay a $100 fee per unit — the cost of which can be split between them and the tenants.
A landlord can, however, file a “fair return” petition if he feels the rent cap is not enough for him to get a reasonable return on his investment, or a capital improvement petition can be filed to allow rent to be increased to pay for large property projects such as roof repairs.
Landlords can register their rental units at santa-ana.org/rental-registry. The city is also providing resources to assist with the process including a video demonstration, weekly virtual workshops and in-person assistance at the Santa Ana WORK Center.
For more detailed information, visit https://www.santa-ana.org/rental-registry/ email [email protected] or call (714) 667-2209 to speak with one of their representatives.