Bill Text: CA AB2187 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Office of Tenants’ Rights and Protections.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-16 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB2187 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB2187-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 21, 2024 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2187
| Introduced by Assembly Members Bryan and Haney |
February 07, 2024 |
An act to add Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 12999.50) to Part 2.8 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to tenancy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2187, as amended, Bryan.
Office of Tenants’ Rights and Protections.
Existing law regulates terms and conditions for the hiring of real property and provides certain protections for tenants, including by prescribing statewide limits on the application of local rent control with regard to certain properties and by prohibiting an owner of residential real property from terminating a tenancy without just cause, as provided. Existing law makes it unlawful for the owner of any housing accommodation to discriminate against or harass any person based on certain personal characteristics.
Existing law provides that there is in state government, in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, the Civil Rights Department under the direction of an executive officer known as the Director of Civil Rights, who is
appointed by the Governor. Among other responsibilities, the department is required to issue publications that in its judgment will tend to promote goodwill and minimize or eliminate discrimination in housing, as specified.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation to would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, establish the Office of Tenants’ Rights and Protections. Protections in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, administered by a director appointed by the Governor, and would require that office to create and maintain an
up-to-date, digestible, and language-inclusive list of statewide tenants’ rights and protections.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee:Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) California has the second highest rate of renters in the United States, with 46 percent of households renting their homes. That number is even higher in Los Angeles, with around 62 percent of households being renters.
(b) On average, Californians spend at least one-third of their paycheck on rent. Twenty percent of
California renters spend over one-half of their paycheck on rent.
(c) Technology-based generalized rental applications and leases are becoming more and more common in today’s rental market. With the proliferation of these application-based rental agreements, it is imperative that tenants have a trusted resource to know their current rights.
(d) The Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency is an umbrella organization that is tasked with, among other responsibilities, guarding and enforcing California’s civil rights laws, including tenants’ rights. Yet, with over 200 agencies in California, and with the enforcement of housing laws spread over 4 different departments, there is still no existing entity dedicated solely to educating tenants.
(e) As California pushes to protect its tenants and
lower the cost of housing, state law is constantly changing and improving, but there is no constant, centralized, and up-to-date resource that California tenants can access to educate themselves on their existing rights, especially in times of crises when their rights are being violated.
SEC. 2.
Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 12999.50) is added to Part 2.8 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:CHAPTER 11. Office of Tenants’ Rights and Protections
12999.50.
(a) The Office of Tenants’ Rights and Protections is hereby established in the Civil Rights Department for the purpose of establishing and maintaining an up-to-date list of statewide tenants’ rights and protection laws.(b) The office shall be administered by a director appointed by the Governor. The director shall hire staff to assist in the fulfillment of the duties and responsibilities of the office.
12999.51.
(a) The office shall be responsible for creating and maintaining an up-to-date, digestible, and language-inclusive list of statewide tenants’ rights and protections.(b) The list shall be made available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Korean.
12999.52.
This chapter shall become operative upon appropriation by the Legislature of sufficient funds for its purposes.It is the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation to establish the Office of Tenants’ Rights and Protections.
