More saber-rattling from California’s top cop
As statewide eviction moratoriums expired in June of 2022, Bornstein Law was the recipient of a scathing letter the California Attorney General's office sent out to select law firms representing rental property owners. The subject of the letter was to remind us all that the end of the eviction moratorium did not mean that there was a cessation of tenant protections.
As Daniel told Mercury News at the time, he felt a bit insulted when opening the letter, as did other attorneys who needed little guidance as to the abundance of tenant protections afforded to renters under the law. Our firm has made it a lifelong mission to educate housing providers on the law and admonish them to abide by the rules.
Just to make sure the message sinks in, Attorney General Rob Bonta recently issued a press release alerting landlords and property managers of their obligations to tenants, including security deposit rules, habitability, permissible rent increases, and the carefully choreographed steps of the eviction process when there is a just cause.
Download the “Know Your Rights as a Tenant” Consumer Alert »
AB 1482 is still the law of the land if the property is not subject to more robust, local tenant protections.
Back in 2020, we thought we would spend much of our time discussing the Tenant Protection Act of 2019, a law that ushered in statewide rent and eviction controls. Yet we got a bit distracted during a pandemic that gave local governments unprecedented powers to halt most evictions and prohibit rent increases.
Based on the press release of California’s top cop, Bonta wants to bring AB 1482 back to the forefront because landlords or their agents are getting a little too relaxed, whether by defying the statute or more commonly, being ignorant of the law.
In an “oldie but goodie,” we covered state law in an earlier webinar. Keep in mind there have been some modifications to it since then, but this replay should give you the broad strokes.
Once AB 1482 was inked, one question we fielded was how the law would be enforced, to which we said that there would be no statewide rent board; rather, grievances would be aired out in the courts. In an earlier article, we noted that the Attorney General's office vowed to crack down on excessive rent increases and have followed through with that promise.
