With a new law comes new notice requirements to keep tenants in the know.

After lawmakers and Governor Newsom brokered a deal on how to utilize $25 billion in federal rental assistance, tenants have to be informed of SB 91 and the protections afforded to them. February 28th is the cutoff date. Do not fret - Bornstein Law has the notification prepared.

Can landlords tap into security deposits to recoup COVID-related rent debt? The answer is no. It may be tempting for rental property owners who are at their wits' end to deduct money from the security deposit to recover all or a portion of unpaid rent, but recent legislation prohibits this - security deposits are off-limits when it comes to back rent that has accrued during the pandemic.  Back to basics: Download our security deposit deduction guide »

Tenant surrender of possession agreements can be a viable, if not the only option to effectuate a vacancy. A tenant buyout agreement was attractive in ordinary times for a host of reasons. Enter the pandemic. While lawmakers got together to restrict the ability of a landlord to forcibly transition a tenant out of the rental unit, there is no government edict that prohibits the two parties from striking a deal whereby the renter leaves voluntarily.  Our office is consistently helping owners regain possession of their units without the time, hassle, and expense of litigation.  We have heard many horror stories of strained landlord-tenant relationships throughout the pandemic and on the surface, it would seem difficult to find solutions. We want you to know that with an ethical, legal, and enforceable buyout agreement, much strife can be avoided. More on buyouts

From the desk of Daniel Bornstein

We hope that rental housing providers and real estate professionals have become acclimated to Sacramento’s new landlording rules and we’d like to think we did our part in educating our community, but the spread of legal information must trickle down to tenants.  Lawmakers require that renters are notified of the provisions of SB 91 and given a statement of their rights under the new legislation. Fortunately, the State has made it relatively easy by spelling out the language needed to be compliant, but it has to be acted upon now.  Please don’t wait until the last minute to satisfy the statutory requirement of keeping tenants in the loop of the new law.  As always, our offices are glad to answer any questions about an ever-evolving set of rules. Thanks so much for your continued following and engagement.

More items on our radar, aggregated from our social media feed

During the pandemic, serving a 15-day notice for nonpayment of rent with the appropriate disclosure documentation attached is perfectly legal. It can bring uncommunicative tenants to the table to discuss the rent debt. It can also get landlords backlashed in the press. Sonoma County is days away from voting on an ordinance that would prohibit evictions unless necessary for health and safety reasons and expanding renters' access to legal counsel. If passed, it will last until December 31. What's more valuable for a tenant - a rent-controlled apartment or a windfall payout by the landlord? That's what some are grappling with in this building after UC Berkeley wants to tear it down. We asked our friend at the Berkeley Property Owners Association what she thought of a soon-to-pass law that would pay up to 80% of back rent if the landlord forgives the other 20%. There are some grievances with the bill.

Sacramento blazes a trail by getting rid of single-family zoning, but will San Francisco follow suit? That would be like capturing fog, says this author. The City's spirit of progressiveness does not extend to housing. Disabled renters in Oakland sue the city in a class-action lawsuit arguing that while the Rent Adjustment Program ensures a rent-stabilized apartment, the protections are no good if the tenants cannot access the unit because of their disability and thus, are excluded from the program. A developer's vision to convert apartment buildings into moderate-income housing has been put on pause because tenants' advocates push back. Oakland has not hit its affordable housing goals because traditional models do not work. Creative solutions have to be explored. In an annual announcement, San Francisco's allowable rent increase effective March 1, 2021, through February 28, 20222 is 0.7%. So, for example, if rent is $1,500, multiplied by .007, the permissible rent increase is $10.50.

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