California lawmakers are taking aim at different aspects of the state's housing market through legislation targeting both renters and property owners.
Attorney General Rob Bonta and Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) have introduced a bill to shield tenants from additional housing fees, while Assemblyman Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego) is pushing legislation to expedite the removal of squatters from private property.
The two bills address distinct challenges in California's housing landscape where approximately 17 million residents rent their homes.
Assembly Bill 1248, unveiled by Bonta and Haney with support from consumer and housing advocates, seeks to prohibit landlords from charging separate fees beyond base rent. The practice has grown more common since the 2019 passage of the Tenant Protection Act, which capped rent increases statewide.
"When landlords tack on fees on top of rent it makes it almost impossible for families to compare housing costs or plan for monthly expenses," Bonta said in a statement. "The price of housing should be clear to California tenants in the same way that the cost of a concert ticket or a hotel is clear to California consumers."
Haney called the additional fees "nothing more than a scam that drives up housing expenses and leaves tenants paying far more than they expected."
The legislation would require landlords to include all costs in the advertised rent price, prevent the addition of new fees during tenancy, and mandate that rent payments be applied to actual rent before other charges.
Consumer advocates say some landlords have been charging additional monthly fees for services traditionally included in rent, such as pest control, trash collection, and utility costs based on complex formulas that can fluctuate unpredictably.
Meanwhile, DeMaio's "Remove Illegal Squatters from Private Property Act" (AB 897) aims to create a streamlined process for property owners to remove people illegally occupying their property without going through lengthy eviction proceedings.
"California is a Squatters Paradise because liberal politicians have enacted so many anti-property rights laws that it is virtually impossible to remove squatters from any property they illegally seize," DeMaio said in a statement. "Squatters are committing crimes against law-abiding property owners and we must put an end to their costly scams."
His legislation would define unlawful squatting, create an arrest process for those who cannot provide valid documentation of their right to occupy a property, and require judicial certification of any documentation provided by alleged squatters.
