News and Views

Ridgecrest Tenants Win Kern County's First-Ever Tenant Protection Law.
  • Kern
August 20, 2009
In this blog post Robert Cruickshank says the single-minded emphasis on homeownership has badly distorted California's economy, land use, and politics. Bringing housing policy back into balance and providing policy support for rent can fix these distortions.
August 19, 2009
Oceanside citizens have successfully reached the ballot in an effort to recall a city councilmember who has sided with mobile park owners looking to abolish rent control.
  • San Diego
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  • San Diego
Low-income tenants are part of the coalition fighting to prevent the confirmation of CPUC Commissioner Rachelle Chong and to save the state mandated Universal Lifeline program, a basic phone service for low income Californians.
In this Blog attorney James Pugh discussions the implications of the Palmer/Sixth Street Properties v. City of Los Angeles case and how it may have delivered inclusionary housing laws "a serious death blow."
August 17, 2009
Page Mill Properties, through its affiliates, has filed yet another lawsuit to undermine tenant rights in East Palo Alto. The latest lawsuit seeks to remove from the ballot some amendments to the local rent law that would plug up loopholes ruthlessly exploited by Page Mill.
Attorneys for East Palo Alto's biggest landlord, Page Mill Properties are trying to get San Mateo County officials to take the city's new rent control ordinance off November ballots, alleging violations of California law.
  • San Mateo
A California blogger supports Dean Baker's proposal to give homeowners the right to rent their homes after foreclosure.
In the current economy, more people have turned to shared housing to make ends meet.
  • San Francisco
A tenant in Barstow says her landlord continued to collect rent from her after the landlord lost the property due to foreclosure.
  • San Bernardino
Professor of history and sociology, Thomas Sugrue argues that it's time to accept that home ownership is not a realistic goal for many people and to curtail the enormous government programs fueling this ambition.
The owner of the Palisades Bowl, a rent-controlled mobile home park in Los Angeles, has announced that he would like to sell the park to its residents or otherwise will declare bankruptcy.
  • Los Angeles
The average cost of renting an apartment dropped almost 6 percent from second quarter 2008 to second quarter this year in San Bernardino County, according to data collected by RealFacts.
  • San Bernardino
The City of Garden Grove, Orange County, is moving forward with plans to eliminate over 100 units of affordable housing to make way for a hotel and water park. That's right, low-income seniors and families being tossed out of their homes for a water park.
August 12, 2009
Blogger and tenant attorney Dave Crow continues his discussion about implied warranty of habitability and what tenants can do to get landlords to make needed repairs.
Santa Monica may soon be considering laws that require landlords to designate units in apartments and condominiums as smoking or non-smoking.
  • Los Angeles
In this OpEd piece, Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research argues that giving homeowners the right to stay in their homes as renters after foreclosure would help stem problems related with the current foreclosure crisis.
After a two-year legal battle with the city of Carson, James Goldstein is nearing his goal of subdividing Colony Cove Mobile Estates which will have the effect of eliminating city rent control at the mobile home park.
  • Los Angeles

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