If voters approve Proposition 10, cities up and down the state will instantly regain broad authority to regulate rents as they see fit, including placing rent controls on apartments built after 1995, which are exempt under state law.

But the crux of the debate is a polarizing policy banned by Costa-Hawkins called “vacancy control,” which Berkeley, Santa Monica and the smaller cities of East Palo Alto and West Hollywood once used to keep a cap on rents even after a tenant moved out.

Now, vacant apartments can be reset at the market rate — a situation that creates a patchwork of rents in the cities’ apartment buildings, with rent levels depending on when an apartment last changed hands.

Read More: https://www.dailydemocrat.com/2018/09/30/if-prop-10-passes-cities-will-be-able-to-regulate-what-tenants-pay/