2015 Laws Affecting Property Owners

The following bills were signed into law and will took effect on January 1, 2016.

All of these measures are likely to have some impact on property owners.

This document is intended to alert you to their existence and summarize with links to the full bill. This list is not comprehensive.

AB 447 (Maienschein). This law would prohibit insurance providers from using as a criterion for approving or declining owners seeking liability insurance for their rental properties the source of income which serves to help residents pay rent. The legislation was specifically introduced to prevent insurers from denying coverage to properties with Section 8 or other federal subsidies.

AB 802(Williams). This law amends the existing state “energy benchmarking” program which seeks to use data about energy consumption in property to project aggregate annual energy needs. AB 802 adds multifamily housing to the program but ensures that data regarding energy use in individual apartments is obtained by the utility from individual renters, not property owners.

AB 1448 (Lopez). Initially advanced as a measure to give tenants the right to hang laundry on clotheslines or drying racks, the new law requires tenants to first get the express permission of landlords before doing so. Tenants must show:

• The clothesline or drying rack will not interfere with maintenance of the rental property;
• The clothesline or drying rack will not create a health or safety hazard, block doorways, or interfere with walkways or utility service equipment;
• Tenant seeks landlord’s consent before affixing a clothesline to a building;
• Use of the clothesline or drying rack does not violate reasonable time or location restrictions imposed by the landlord; and
• The tenant has received approval of the clothesline or drying rack, or the type of clothesline or drying rack, from the landlord.

SB 328 (Hueso). This law establishes a protocol for owners to follow before using over-the-counter pesticides anywhere in rental properties. While the protocol requires notification of residents before these pesticides are used, it does allow for property owners to respond to resident complaints about pest infestations and deal with them immediately.