Although efforts to repeal or amend the law have failed, it has been increasingly subject to interpretation in the courts.

All eyes have been on the First District Court of Appeal after weighing the arguments made in NCR Properties, Inc. v. the City of Berkeley. The justices have spoken, and their ruling doesn’t bode well for owners looking to invest in unlivable buildings and then exempt units from rent control.

After purchasing two derelict single-family homes that were red-tagged, the landlords rehabilitated them, converted them into triplexes, and rented them out. A dispute arose as to whether the tenants were protected by the Rent Ordinance. The landlords contended that the units were exempt from the city’s rent control under Costa-Hawkins and the Rent Board took exception with four of the six units.

By Max Glassburg

If improving renter retention feels a bit like chasing your tail, you might just need a few simple renter engagement ideas to keep people around, bring in positive property reviews and cultivate the apartment community of your dreams. The good news is that resident satisfaction is actually pretty high across the board. In fact, most U.S. residents are satisfied with where they live. Some are unhappy, but many sit somewhere in the middle.

What did we do to deserve it? For years, we worked two jobs, our real 9-5 job and our rental property owner job. We saved and sacrificed to invest in income property so that someday, with any luck, we will have more than just Social Security to retire on. Our ulterior motive is nothing more than to provide for ourselves and family, and to invest in and house members of our local community. Sometimes, our investments would house ourselves and our families. Nothing more, nothing less.

You’ve seen ads for rental insurance. But do you know what it covers OR if you can require tenants to get it? 

Rental insurance is a specific type of policy that covers possessions within the home as opposed to the home itself. It is highly beneficial to your residents in the event of flood or similar disaster since you are not responsible for damage to personal possessions – only the property itself. Some property owners may require tenants to obtain rental insurance. Even if you don’t require your residents to have renal insurance, you can advise them to get it. 

By Will Swaim

We’ve seen Gov. Gavin Newsom impose questionable — even dangerous and illegal — policies by declaring states of emergency or merely “crisis” with regard to Covid, climate and energy. He’s done it again on the issue of housing. The problems of housing affordability and homelessness constitute a crisis so compelling, the governor says, that they can be solved only by forcing cities to permit the construction of 2.5 million new homes by 2030.

By Nate Bernstein, Esq.- Managing Counsel of LA Real Estate Law Group

                If your case or law and motion matter in Superior Court does not settle, you run the gauntlet and risk of having a judge decide the issue before the court.    

                 It is important to understand that judges are overworked, and by some standards under paid for their long hours.  Judges are human beings, and are not paper pushing robots.  Because they see issues over and over again, they bored with the mundane, and like to hear interesting issues- such as a products liability case where the air bags failed to deploy.   Judges rely on their staff research attorneys  a great deal to complete research and decide legal issues. The research attorneys will do extensive research, will work up the matter,  and make recommendations to the judge.     The judge may not have time and resources to read all or some of the papers that you file in court for a hearing- it may not be humanly possible to ready 15 motions in limine before trial starts.     

The national index for one- and two-bedroom rentals remained flat month-over-month, pointing to a possible inflection point between supply and demand following several months of near-flat rent increases. One-bedroom rentals remained unchanged (0.0%) from January 2023 at $1,492 per month, while two-bedroom rentals increased just 0.1% to $1,824, respectively.  

Zumper monthly rent data provides insights to where the Consumer Price Index is heading. Year-over-year rent-price increases continued to decelerate from post-pandemic-era increases in 2021 and 2022. However, average rents for one-bedroom rentals still increased 7.3% year-over-year (YOY), while the average rent for two-bedrooms increased 6.8% YOY.  By comparison, rents for one- and two-bedroom rentals had increased 12.8% and 13.8% YOY from 2021 to 2022, respectively—a good sign for renters if the trend continues.

Brittany Benz

For residential property management, leasing season runs from May through September, with July and August typically seeing the most volume. To maximize profits and see greater levels of success during this critical time, property management teams need to be ready long before the season begins. In addition, resources need to be fully committed and optimized during peak times in order to meet high prospect demand and expectations.

Keep reading to discover leasing season strategies that will give your team a competitive edge and boost efficiency before and during leasing season. 

Before leasing season: Set a foundation for success

Why do West Coast cities seem so incapable of dealing with the homelessness crisis?

By Irene Smith, JD, PhD, San Jose Area Rental Housing Provider

It’s easy to blame government incompetence, but there’s something even more fundamental at work: Martin vs.Boise,e a landmark case from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. That’s a 2019 legal decision that ruled homelessness is not a crime and that unless shelter is provided, people may sleep in public spaces. Worthy sentiments, to be sure. It certainly should not be a crime to be homeless.

San Jose does not have enough shelter for every unhoused person. [Editor’s Note: Nor do any other West Coast cities and counties.] So, unhoused persons live in parks and along creek sides and the City uses re-traumatizing abatements to clean encampments instead of offering quick shelter.

It’s tempting to think that the “atmospheric rivers” that have deluged California and neighboring states with more than 32 million gallons of rain and snow mean that the drought is finally over. Many reservoirs are at close-to-normal levels for the first time in years, and some areas have actually experienced dangerous flooding. But Californians need to remain vigilant about water consumption and saving water. Why?

Simple physics has a lot to do with it. Yes, reservoirs are being replenished by rainfall and the higher volume in rivers that feed into them. But when that much water hits hard ground after so many years of drought-level precipitation, a lot of the water simply runs off and ends up back in the ocean. The baked ground can’t absorb it as fast as it falls, causing problems with excessive runoff and flash flooding. In turn, that runoff erodes the vital topsoil that holds onto water AND the vegetation that holds the topsoil in place. Extremes in weather are rarely good, long-term. The state is actually releasing water from reservoirs to help soak up incoming rain!