Are you voting YES or NO to Prop 10?

Residents of California will cast their votes in an election slated in November.

So what exactly is Prop 10?

Proposition 10: Expands Local Governments’ Authority to Enact Rent Control on Residential Property

This is not the first time that the issue of rent control in California was raised. Due to inflation in the 70s, rent control ordinances were adopted by some cities to restrict landlords from excessive and frequent rent increases. While this helped household renters reduce expenses it did hurt the income ability of the property. Many of the properties were then converted to more revenue-generating commercial spaces. This also put a halt on new construction due to uncertain ROI concerns which resulted in an upset on housing supply and demand.

In 1995, to alleviate the housing crisis, Democratic Sen. Jim Costa and Republican Assemblyman Phil Hawkins co-sponsored a bipartisan compromised now known as The Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act. This statewide law states that the rent on single-family homes and buildings first rented out in 1995 or later could not be controlled, and landlords could raise the rent to market rates if a tenant left the rental property. As a result, The Costa-Hawkins Act gave rise to new housing construction in most cities.

Fast forward to 2018, the Prop 10 repeals the Costa Hawkins Rental Act. The state can no longer impose limits on rental control policies. It will now allow local governments to regulate rents regardless of housing property, type and when it was built.

What does your vote mean?

Voting YES would mean that the State cannot limit the kinds of rent control the cities or counties will impose. This means that the local communities who have better knowledge of what’s best for them decides on their rental control laws. Fixed and low-income earners are protected from rising rents by this proposal.

Voting NO would mean that the State law would continue to limit the kinds of rent control the cities or counties have. This raises fears that the number of rental properties will be reduced again and that this will discourage new construction. This will eventually worsen the current housing crisis California is experiencing.

What is your take on this matter? Please share your thoughts.

Source|Related content:
https://cavotes.org/vote/elections/ballot-measures/proposition-10-expands-local-governments%E2%80%99-authority-enact-rent