They are concerned that it will force them to sell their properties to large corporations, and there will be less accessible supply
Gustavo González, owner of two rental buildings in San José, son of Mexican immigrants, worked up to three jobs to save money and buy two small apartment buildings in San José in northern California.
“20 years ago I bought with the hope that one day I could use that money to pay for my children’s college, my retirement and live comfortably in some way.”
However, lhe possibility that Proposition 21 is approved in the November elections, it generates a lot of fear because he considers that he will not be able to provide the maintenance that his buildings require, and that will affect the quality of life of his tenants.
If approved by the voters, Proposition 21 would allow local governments to adopt rent control on housing units, except for those that were occupied for the first time in the last 15 years, and for those owned by people who do not own more than two units with separate titles such as condos, some duplexes, and single-family homes.
“I will probably have to sell to the big investors with capital. This is not going to help the tenants because they are going to lose the familiar treatment by being left in the hands of a corporation that has a completely different administrative style, ”says Gustavo.
But also this electoral measure generates a lot of confusion. “For people like me, it’s going to be a nightmare figuring out what I need to follow and how to stay within the new laws. We already have a rent control in the City and another in the state ”.
Not to mention that his children – he says – will never be able to move out of their father’s house because there is nothing they can afford. “There are few or zero vacancies; and that is why we have less and less ”.
“Currently the average price of an apartment in the county where I live is $ 1.3 million. There is no way my daughter who is going to graduate in three years can buy in this area. ”
He adds that they need policies and rules that help develop housing, while Proposition 21 does the opposite. “In San José there is an impulse to build small houses next to yours to create more supply, but they will find that they will be under rent control.”
And he revealed that the median cost of rent for a bedroom in Silicon Valley is $ 2,100 while he charges $ 1,300 for rent. “I am happy to support the families that live there because they are workers like my mother and father when they came to this country.”
But keeping those rents when a tenant leaves will wipe them out in terms of building maintenance.
“So this part to control vacant units is disastrous for people like me. I just hope and pray that this doesn’t happen because it’s going to create very bad apartment buildings in the state of California. “
Measure 21 is sponsored by Michael Weinstein of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, who two years ago lost an attempt to get this same proposition to pass in the California election, despite spending $ 90 billion.
Deb Carlon, vice president of government affairs for the California Apartment Association, says Proposition 21 is the same bad idea as it was two years ago when it lost by 20 percentage points.
“We believe it will make the housing issue even more difficult than it already is, because it will do nothing to prevent the evictions that California faces as a result of COVID-19.”
And it emphasizes that there is nothing in Proposition 21 to build a single affordable housing unit in the state.
“That will harm minorities and low-income families. “.
Nor is there anything in Proposition 21 that has to do with helplessness.
“In fact, it may lead to a bigger increase because there will be less affordable housing if Proposition 21 passes.”
The Office of the Legislative Analyst – it says – established that Proposition 21 will cost communities hundreds of millions of dollars that they cannot afford to lose now, and will decrease property values.
“Homeowners, especially minority people, can’t see their property values fall, and it will make it harder for them to find affordable housing because there will be less.”
For example – mention – the owners of a single home will put their houses on the market because they cannot earn anything by renting it. Studies have proven that this has happened in other states ”.
He concludes by saying that Proposition 21 is a poorly drafted law; and single-family homes held in trust, which account for about one-third in California, are not exempt.
María Salinas, president of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, affirms that from a business point of view, the most important thing is her workforce, and what impacts her the most is the cost of housing.
“It is not a secret that we need to increase the supply, and this proposition is an impediment for them to pay for an affordable roof and live in Los Angeles.”
Steve Maviglio, a Democratic consultant, says they’ve done some private polls that tell them Prop 21 will have similar fate to last time.
Asked about the support of Bernie Sanderns, Dolores Huerta, ACLU, the Democratic party, Maviglio says they understand that it is something that the far left believes in and is a way to motivate their voters.
“We understand, but we also have on our side left groups and many elected legislators who are progressive, whose representatives are 90% tenants.”
