Bill would offer vital tenant protections
Effort to repeal Costa-Hawkins law would apply to single-family homes
In the wake of the foreclosure crisis, a new rental empire has risen in California, leaving it more likely these days that you’ll be paying rent to Wall Street than to the landlady upstairs. Wall Street investment trusts such as Colony Starwood and Blackstone have bought up thousands of single-family homes and are turning them into rentals — many in lowincome, communities of color — driving up prices and displacing families. The bottom line: We need to focus on the solution to this problem in the form of AB1506, which would repeal the state’s Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act.
For three years, Bay Area natives Merika Reagan and her wife Ifasina Clear have been tenants in a home now owned by mega-landlord Colony Starwood. Reagan runs her own pet care and dogwalking business while Clear works at a nonprofit and is a spiritual life coach. Recently, Reagan and Clear were told if they signed a one-year lease, their rent would increase by $355 a month, and if they chose to go month to month, their rent would increase $1,000 a month.
The man behind these stunning increases is billionaire Thomas Barrack. He chairs the board of Colony Starwood, which owns 30,000 singlefamily homes across the country with thousands of units in California. Some of that rent money surely helped Barrack gather $32 million to support his longtime friend Donald Trump get elected in November. Barrack’s loyalty to Trump was rewarded when he was selected to chair the presidential inauguration committee.
Meanwhile, Reagan and Clear were faced with the real and painful choice of being pushed out of their home, their community and their jobs — or staying in their Colony Starwood home and continuing to work 12- to 14hour days to pay the rent. Even though Reagan and Clear live in Oakland, a city that has rent control, there are no tenant protections for them because the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act exempts single-family homes from rent control laws.
Reagan and Clear are members of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment. Last week, after Reagan organized a series of actions with the alliance and other tenants at Colony Starwood offices in Sacramento and Los Angeles, she received an email offering them a new one-year lease with a $50 increase. While this victory is wonderful for their family, there are thousands more tenants like them who don’t know how to fight back.
Repealing the Costa-Hawkins law would give families like Reagan and Clear a fighting chance to live securely in their home city and neighborhood.
I, along with two co-authors, have written legislation to address the problem. AB1506 would repeal CostaHawkins. We are moving thoughtfully and will engage with stakeholders. This will give us time to get people like you involved in supporting this legislation. As a result, the bill will not be voted on until next year.
State legislators are considering more than 130 bills this year to address the housing crisis. I believe AB1506 will provide the most fundamental change to protect California families. Let’s elevate our family, friends and neighbors on Main Street over corporate profits on Wall Street.