Defeat Of Senate Bill 364 Preserves Private Property Rights And Protects California's Rental Housing Market

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May 29, 2015, 05:56 ET

LOS ANGELES, May 29, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) today hailed the defeat of Senate Bill (SB) 364 (Leno) in the State Legislature this week. The bill would have eliminated property rights protections for owners of rental property and significantly discouraged efforts to create new rental housing in the city and county of San Francisco.

"SB 364 was an unreasonable and unjustified attack on property owners that need or want to take a rental property off the market," C.A.R. President Chris Kutzkey said. "Discouraging investment in housing is bad policy, and SB 364 would have caused harmful unintended consequences. San Francisco already has the most protective, and the most expensive, eviction rules in the state."

In 1985, C.A.R. successfully sponsored the Ellis Act, preventing local governments from restricting the ability of rental property owners to remove a rental property from the market. SB 364 would have allowed San Francisco to prevent property owners from taking rental units off the market, unless every owner of that property has owned the property for at least five consecutive years. This effectively forces property owners to remain in the rental housing business even if they are losing money or simply wish to occupy their own property.

San Francisco already has California's strongest renter protection rules. Seniors and the disabled are, under current state law, given a one-year notice when a property owner is going to vacate the unit. All other tenants receive 120 days.

"California's 175,000 REALTORS® stand up for the rights of property owners and those who want the opportunity to rent or buy a home at a fair market price. SB 364 was an attack on private property rights, essentially allowing government to seize property by dictating its use," said Kutzkey.

Leading the way...^® in California real estate for 110 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS^® (www.car.org) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States with 175,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles.

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SOURCE CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS