Los Angeles

Rent Control Laws Debated in California

"We need for tenants to be protected"

High rent in Los Angeles causes people to question rent control laws in California.

In a 2017 report, the California Department of Housing found that incomes of people living in the state are not keeping pace with the soaring housing cost, NBC4's media partner KPCC reports.

California's Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, enacted in 1995, prohibited local policymakers from capping rent increases on buildings built after that year.

The consequences of that state law included banning vacancy control, allowing exemptions to rent control and also exempting single-family homes from rent control.

Members of the Eviction Defense Network and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation are pushing for a repeal of the Costa-Hawkins Act. The change would expand rent control to newer buildings and single-family homes.

"We need for tenants to be protected," said Elena Popp, executive director of the Eviction Defense Network.

Critics of that change say would likely discourage new construction.

"This will pour gasoline on California's housing crisis," said Steve Maviglio, a political consultant for Californians for Responsible Housing.

Read more at KPCC.

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