A controversial piece of legislation — Assembly Bill 1482, known informally as the rent control bill — passed the Assembly and recently cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee with a 5-2 vote. If the bill also passes the Senate, California would become one of the few states in the country that regulate rent prices at the statewide level.
AB 1482 was initially introduced last February by Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) and has gone through several rounds of negotiated amendments. The latest version of the bill would place the cap on annual rent increases at 5% plus the percentage change in the cost of living, or 10%, whichever is lower. These strictures would remain in place until the year 2030. A previous version of the bill capped rent increases at 7% until the year 2023.
