As voters weigh whether to allow local governments to expand rent control, elected officials in San Francisco and Los Angeles have already shown interest in doing so. In other cities, local laws could automatically cap annual rent increases on some single-family homes and newer apartment buildings if Prop. 33 passes.
Proposition 33 looks deceptively simple on the California ballot. But it comes with complications that are hard to see at first, raising questions for which there are few definitive answers.
California has one of the lowest homeownership rates in the nation. Similar to other economic indices, it also includes a strong racial component that affects state's generational wealth gap.
California allotted half a billion dollars to help community land trusts across the state. But budget cuts and bureaucracy have land trust advocates back where they were in 2020: seeking state aid to preserve affordable housing.
Rigid zoning rules, which limit what private citizens can do on their land, only make California's housing crisis worse, as a recent Santa Clara County dispute reveals.
Tenant advocates say giving renters 10 days to respond to eviction notices, up from 5, will help those who live in rural areas and have trouble finding legal help. Some landlords argue it will increase their costs.
Caltrans road projects destroyed homes and sliced through neighborhoods often occupied by Black or Latino families. Now the agency is trying to repair the damage by selling back hundreds of homes.