In addition to City of Sacramento's rent control ordinance, for more fun, now we have statewide rent control in California as AB1482 is signed into law...

I have been holding off pushing the "publish" button on this post until California's Governor Gavin Newsom actually signed AB1482 into law, and since he finally did so yesterday, here you go.

California now has a statewide rent control and just cause for eviction. And nearly simultaneously as I wrote about a few weeks ago, the City of Sacramento passed a local rent control ordinance that is essentially rolling out at the same time.

I am not looking forward to the confusion these two parallel rent control programs will cause in and around Sacramento. The provisions in both are similar, yet different. And while I am not an attorney, I imagine that within the city limits of Sacramento where the terms overlap, the higher level of tenant protection will prevail.

AB1482 statewide rent cap limits annual rent increases to 5% + regional CPI (inflation adjustment), applies to newer construction on a rolling 15-year basis, and after tenancy for one year provides for relocation assistance in the amount of one month's rent to terminate a tenancy (this is known as just cause for eviction).

So for example, within the city limits of Sacramento, while single family homes are exempt from the local rent control ordinance, because the statewide rent control applies single family homes owned by larger investors (LLC's owned by corporations, or individuals who own more than 10 properties), some single family homes in the city may be rent controlled by the new state law. Additionally, the state rent cap allowable increase percentage is actually LOWER than the city's...so I imagine the lower of the two will be what goes.

So basically, it's complicated. If you care to read it, here is the bill language for AB1482, as well as the ordinance for the City of Sacramento.

In addition, landlords will be required to provide their tenants a disclosure about their rights under the new ordinance by January 1, 2020. The California Association of REALTORS is coming out with a standard form for this, and I imagine the California Apartment Association will too, among other rental housing organizations...if you have a professional property manager you should inquire to make sure they are ready to be in compliance with this requirement. And if you self-manage your properties, you should perhaps get some legal advice.

If you are thinking about selling an investment property or any tenant occupied property, please connect with me so we can strategize the best way to move forward in compliance with these rent control ordinances.

Regardless of your stance on rent control policies, these are here to stay for a while. The state law sunsets December 31st, 2030, which is more than a decade away...