ACTION Apartment Association

San Francisco: Proposition F: Free Legal Aid for Tenants Facing Eviction

05/02/2018 8:16 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

In a city where two-thirds of adults are renters, more than 1,600 tenants have received eviction notices over the past year. On June 5, voters could make history by guaranteeing legal help to anyone facing eviction, regardless of income. If Proposition F passes, it would make San Francisco the first city to pass such a law through a voter-approved initiative, and would push forward a growing “right to counsel” movement for civil litigation.

WHOSE CITY IS IT? [Charles Andrews]

05/02/2018 8:08 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

I think many ascend to office with only public service in mind, but once they get the lay of the land they become seduced by their own power, to shape things the way they perceive them, and then representing their constituents’ wishes becomes secondary, even an annoyance. Rabble-rousers. NIMBYs. What do they know? Most Council members, I think, come to believe they were elected because of their “vision,” and they stop listening to those who elected them.

Opinion: Housing Answer Must Help Many

05/01/2018 8:05 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Wiener was stunned when a sweeping proposed law he touted as the solution to California’s serious problems of housing affordability and homelessness was killed – for this year – by the Senate’s Transportation and Housing Committee on a lopsided vote.

Rent Control is Not the Answer

05/01/2018 7:53 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

By Timothy L. Coyle

Consultant specializing in housing issues

Monday, April 30th, 2018

State housing activists recently came to Sacramento to celebrate a special achievement of theirs. They gathered on the steps of the Capitol to announce they had a solution to high housing costs in California: a repeal of the law which prevents statewide rent control. With the blessing of voters this Fall, they expressed the hope that a just-qualified initiative would deliver on that promise.

By preventing rents from rising to their short-term market-clearing level, stringent rent controls distort the resource-allocation signaling function of the price system. Specifically, stringent controls prevent owners from reaping the profits that would trigger the development of additional new rental units. Instead, owners often receive below-normal profits because controlled rents lag behind true total operating costs, including debt service. As a result, developers and investors are discouraged from building new rental units. This prevents the expansion of the overall rental housing supply needed to cope with the higher demand that stimulated rising rents.

State Bill Could Boost Santa Monica's Affordable Housing, Public Transit Goals

04/30/2018 12:35 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

April 30, 2018 -- A Santa Monica lawmaker's bill that would create "Transit Improvement Districts" could help ease the beach city's affordable housing crisis, boost its transportation initiatives and create more green space, a sponsor of the bill said.

State Senator Ben Allen's "Neighborhood Infill Finance and Transit Improvement Districts" bill (SB 961), which would create funding districts near public transit, was unanimously approved by a key committee last Wednesday.

Drafted by Move LA, the bill creates special taxing districts "around rail stations and along high-frequency bus corridors," the transportation non-profit said.

The districts "would collect the enhanced tax increment from increased property and sales taxes within the district and use these funds to invest in district improvements," said former Santa Monica Mayor Denny Zane, who heads Move LA.

47-unit Apartment Complex headed to Lincoln Boulevard

04/30/2018 8:41 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The City Council unanimously voted to strike down a resident’s appeal to prevent a four-story apartment complex planned for the stretch of Lincoln Boulevard between Ashland Avenue and Wilson Place. The CIM Group project with 47 apartments will move forward despite two “reluctant yes” votes from Councilmembers Sue Himmelrich and Tony Vazquez.

Gehry returns to Planning Commission Wednesday

04/30/2018 8:18 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Plans for a potential Frank Gehry building overlooking the Pacific Ocean will be before Planning Commission this week.

The project at 101 Santa Monica Blvd. will have a preliminary review on May 2. The project has already had initial reviews by the Architectural Review Board and the Landmarks Commission.

As proposed, the project covers 11 parcels totaling 82,500 square feet along Santa Monica Blvd. and Ocean Ave. It would stand about 130 feet tall (12 stories).

The site currently houses four buildings (three commercial and one mixed-use commercial/residential) and a surface parking lot.

The applicant has pitched a project that includes commercial (24,000 square foot of retail/restaurant), hotel (115 room), museum (40,000 square foot cultural/museum campus) and residential (79 units) uses while retaining two landmarked buildings on the site. There would be a publically accessible rooftop deck and underground parking.

Editorial | Rent control no answer to California housing crisis

04/28/2018 9:16 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

The disappointing renaissance of the California rent-control movement — and its championing by smart politicians like L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, who should know better — threatens to undo the progress the state has finally made at the behest of Gov. Jerry Brown. Last fall’s enactment of Senate Bill 35 — which makes it far more difficult to block properly zoned projects with affordable housing components — amounted to a landmark recognition that adding housing stock is the only realistic long-term way to address the housing shortage. This progress should be built on — not abandoned in favor of bad policy.

Price Controls for Rental Housing

04/28/2018 9:11 AM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

Letter to the editor.

See Diane McDowell's letter, Obviously we have a problem with high rents... role of a government entity subsidizing the multitude of renters : http://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?pubid=50435180-e58e-48b5-8e0c-236bf740270e&edid=a80bf583-9a6e-4c8b-8c02-a2f137b4d5ee&pnum=10

Bill by Santa Monica Lawmaker to Close Ellis Act "Loopholes" Clears Key Committee

04/27/2018 1:48 PM | Margaret Fulton (Administrator)

April 27, 2018 -- A bill by a Santa Monica lawmaker that would make it harder for landlords to skirt protections for renters under the “Ellis Act” cleared a key hurdle this week.

Authored by Santa Monica-area Assemblyman Richard Bloom, AB 2364 made it out of the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee on a 5-2 vote Wednesday, his office said.

AB 2364 sets one withdrawal date for a property, requires the entire property to be deemed back on the market if one unit is returned and increases the length of time for which a property owner can be penalized for re-entering the rental market.