CA Proposition 33: The Rent Control Expansion Measure

CALIFORNIA — Voters in the November election will decide whether to open the door for broader rent control in California. Proposition 33 would roll back state restrictions that prevent cities from limiting rent increases.

Rent control already exists in many California counties and cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, but a 1995 law restricts the reach of local municipalities on behalf of renters. Generally, rent control can only cover apartments built before 1995, and it's prohibited for single-family homes and condos.

Proposition 33 would repeal the law, the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, which would allow local governments to implement stricter rent control policies. However, it wouldn't require them to. It would also prohibit the state from restricting local rent control policies in the future.

Proponents, including the California Democratic Party and several unions, say the measure would help reign in out of control housing costs and protect long-term renters from the threat of sharp rent hikes that could push them out of their homes.

Landlords and business groups are spending big in an effort to defeat the measure, which the California Apartment Association calls "extreme." In their worst-case scenario, cities could force landlords to charge below-market rents. They also say more rent control would make the state's housing crisis worse, not better, because it could stymie investment in new construction.

The measure is sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a nonprofit whose housing-related advocacy included two similar statewide rent control initiatives that failed in 2020 and 2018.

The pro campaign has raised $21.2 million, while the opponents have raised $65.6 million.

The measure comes in the wake of recent state law applied some form of rent control across California: Rents for apartments and corporate-owned single-family homes that are older than 15 years cannot go up more than 5 percent plus inflation annually and no more than 10 percent.