SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Rent control advocates took the first steps this month to a new California ballot measure for 2020.
Housing and rent control advocates linked to the group Housing is a Human Right (HHR), a division of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, filed papers with the state Attorney General’s office for the measure.
The ballot proposal allows rent control on buildings over 15 years old and exempts owners of two or fewer homes. The measure would also restrict rental rate increases on a vacated unit by no more than 15 percent over three years in addition to any other increase allowed under a local ordinance.
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The proposal findings cite housing cost burdens for Californians, with one-third of renter households spending more than 50 percent of their income on rent, HHR officials report.
One benefit of the proposal is that it would take rent control to a local level, allowing cities and counties to determine their own level of housing restrictions, according to HHR spokesman René Moya.
Advocates said the next step for the measure after the Attorney General’s review is to gather more than 623,000 signatures. The effort will be funded by AHF, Moya said.
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10News reached out to the San Diego Apartment Owners Association for a response.
“The Rental Affordability Act is nothing but another Tenant Welfare proposal to transfer property rights from owners. If the public wants lower rents, then the public should vote to tax themselves instead of expecting individual owners to absorb all the cost of this welfare program,” said AOA President Dan Faller.
