During the past year, a number of new laws have been enacted in the state of California with respect to how property owners and managers must regard the rights of tenants. Specifically, the new laws impact areas such as HOA’s, property transfers, and eviction rules and rent relief which are directly tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. Below, you’ll find a breakdown of the four most important new laws which have been enacted. The New Laws California Landlords Need To Know are given below
SB 1079
The intent of this law was to make it more difficult for huge corporations to purchase foreclosed homes in quantity, thus making it possible for ordinary homebuyers to acquire a property. The way this is accomplished is by providing 45-day window to purchase a foreclosed property if a potential buyer is able to match or exceed the highest bid made at a foreclosure auction. New Laws California Landlords Need To Know. The law also disallows the possibility of bundling several homes to be sold to a single buyer. Since all homes must be sold individually, it provides a better opportunity to those who actually plan to live in the home after buying it.
AB 3182
This law requires HOA’s to permit at least 25% of member-owners to rent out their personal units, and this is true whether or not the HOA has actually updated their by-laws and governing documents. However, the law does prohibit restrictions on rental homes which are considered unreasonable, as well as restrictions on junior accessory dwelling units and accessory dwelling units. It has not yet been clearly defined what exactly constitutes unreasonable restrictions, but if an HOA is found to be in violation of this statute, it will be subject to a significant fine.
SB 91
It’s extremely important that all tenants and landlords are aware of the provisions of SB 91, since it provides assistance for all the individuals who have been affected by the pandemic. When AB 3088 was passed in 2020, it provided an eviction moratorium which prevented the possibility of tenant eviction, when those tenants were impacted by the pandemic. That statute expired at the end of January, 2021, and SB 91 has extended that moratorium further into the year. Passage of this bill makes California the one state in the union which provides the most protection for renters. Landlords will also be assisted by passage of this bill, or at least those landlords who agree to waive 20% of unpaid rent, because they will then receive government assistance. California was awarded $2.6 billion in federal rental assistance recently, and monies from this award will be used to support landlords who waive unpaid rent fees.
Proposition 19
This bill was passed very recently in November, and it affects homes that have been inherited but not used as primary residences. These residences must be reassessed at the current market value whenever any kind of transfer is initiated. Another part of Proposition 19 affects people at age 55 and above who have certain disabilities. It allows them to transfer tax assessments as many as three times, anywhere within the state, and they can even be applied to a more expensive dwelling. The last provision of this Proposition serves to increase the number of affected people to now include victims of natural disasters such as wildfires.
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