Vanguard News Desk Editor
SACRAMENTO, CA – In what sponsors are calling “sweeping legislation to combat California’s spiraling housing emergency,” legislation was introduced here Wednesday to “provide immediate relief to millions of renters, protecting many from displacement, preventing worsening homelessness,” according to a coalition of lawmakers, labor labors, tenant, youth activists and the unhoused.
The so-called “Affordable Rent Act,” introduced as AB 1157 by Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), will, said the author and the coalition behind it, “permanently strengthen tenant protections statewide by updating the Tenant Protection Act of 2019.”
The bill would limit annual rent increases to the Consumer Price Index plus two percent or five percent, whichever is lower; includes single-family home renter and makes TPA permanent by removing a 2030 sunset.
Sponsors maintained in a statement that “California’s 17 million renters face aggressive rent increases that outpace wages; this bill would provide immediate relief from a system where current law allows landlords to nearly double rents over a decade even as wages don’t keep up.”
Noting that median rent in California has ballooned about 37 percent since 2000, when the TPA went into effect, “median renter household income has only increased seven percent,” adjusted for inflation, the coalition said.
The coalition added, “Under current law, renters could see their rent nearly double over 10 years. With half of California renters already spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing, excessive increases are driving the homelessness crisis.
“Corporate landlords are driving Californians out of their homes while raking in record profits. The Affordable Rent Act is our chance to stop predatory rent hikes, keep families housed, and protect our workforce. Every day we wait means more evictions and more families pushed to the streets,” said Rae Huang, Senior Organizer, Housing Now!
“Home is more than just a dwelling, it is a sacred place where we eat, love, and find solace. It is unconscionable that we allow homelessness and wanton rent hikes to go unchecked while corporate landlords hoard wealth at the expense of our families. Passing The Affordable Rent Act is more than good policy, it is our moral imperative,” charged Father Jon Pedigo, executive director PACT San Jose – Affiliate of PICO California.
And, Director of Legislative Affairs at Public Advocates Michelle Pariset added, “While landlord profits soar, California families are being pushed into their cars and onto the streets. This isn’t just about housing — it’s about economic survival. When families have to choose between rent and medicine, between housing and food, the system is broken.”
Jesus Figueroa Cacho, member of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and SEIU 2015, said, “For seven years, I rented a single-family home from a corporate landlord who increased my rent by hundreds of dollars every year. When I was severely injured on the job, affecting my eyesight and reducing my work hours, I had no choice but to spend my entire retirement just to pay rent.
“Despite these sacrifices, when I paid my rent in full just three days late, my landlord refused my check and evicted me. I became homeless. AB 1157 would have made a world of difference for me. By lowering the rent cap from 10 percent to five percent, and extending protections to single-family homes like the one I rented, this bill could have prevented me from losing my entire retirement and becoming homeless.”
The bill is co-sponsored by the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), Housing Now! CA, PICO California, Public Advocates and UNITE HERE Local 11.
