Skillfully handling the details of managing landlord-tenant relationships while keeping our eyes on the bigger picture.



As politicians attempt to ‘Trump-proof’ California, what housing providers need to know about tenant protections for tenants with an undocumented status

There is some wrangling between an incoming administration and the many governors and mayors who have vowed to resist the new federal government’s agenda of deportations, if not obstruct it. 

California landlords should be removed from the fray and be reminded that a tenant’s immigration status cannot be used to harass, intimidate, or retaliate against them. 

The movement to regulate indoor temperatures in rental units

While California requires adequate heating to make a rental unit habitable, it does not require air conditioning. There is a movement to mandate AC, which would have significant costs for landlords, particularly if they own older buildings.

Lawmakers in Los Angeles County are drafting an ordinance, but there is no reason to believe this cause will not spread elsewhere.

With Concord’s Rent Registry now open for Fiscal Year 2024-2025, property owners with covered rental units in the City now have new administrative burdens and must pay rent registry fees.

Even exempt landlords must bring their property to the light of day and substantiate the claim of exemption.

Get informed and register →

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

With 2025 rapidly approaching, watch our video on new laws the New Year will usher in.

More from around the web

After San Francisco passed a ban on revenue management software like RealPage alleging that using confidential, nonpublic information amounts to price-fixing of rents, housing providers elsewhere are migrating from software that uses private information or moving away altogether from revenue management software.

READ ON »

Our community of housing providers can breathe a sigh of relief that Proposition 33 was defeated, but we should not be too celebratory. Nothing prevents state lawmakers from reforming rent control policies. After all, the 1995 Costa-Hawkins law was a machination of the legislature and what lawmakers giveth they could taketh away.

READ ON »

A landlord and his brother are charged with beating a tenant to death with a baseball bat over a rent dispute, reminding housing providers that they should avail the eviction process and not take matters into their own hands.

READ ON »

Following a surprise pardon by his father, Hunter Biden is alleged to be a less-than-ideal renter, with landlords coming forward claiming Hunter didn’t pay rent, left properties in shambles, and used the Secret Service to enforce an unauthorized change of locks. 

READ ON »

Does anyone believe that San Francisco will come close to meeting its mandate to build new housing? A 117-year-old Nob Hill property slated for demolition will trade five empty apartments for 33 new condominiums, but even this project proved difficult to get approved. 

READ ON »

We normally associate tenant protections with renters in residential buildings, but beginning January 1, 2025, a new law creates protections for “qualifying commercial tenants.” Owners of commercial properties should be aware of obligations foreign to them thus far.

READ ON »

With the holidays soon upon us, we wish you a joyous and relaxing season, but now is not the time to rest on our laurels. We will need to prepare for new laws and notice requirements that go into effect when the New Year is rung in. 

Most of our clients who experience anguish are rental property owners who are good people and provide safe, secure, and affordable housing. They take good care of their tenants and have no ill intentions, but the clients who get into trouble simply are ignorant of the law.

Let’s all commit to staying informed.

Thank you for your continued engagement and if there are any quandaries, I’m always accessible via email at daniel@bornstein.law. 

Dedicated to your real estate success, 

Share this with like-minded housing providers, property managers, and real estate professionals.