Housing inspections in focus: a closer look at the newly minted bill of AB 838

After surviving recall efforts, a reinvigorated Governor Newsom signed no less than 27 housing bills into law, among them a piece of legislation that dictates how local government are to respond to complaints of substandard housing.

Keeping rental units in a habitable condition is a threefold responsibility of landlords, tenants, and governmental inspectors tasked with giving buildings a passing or failing grade. This interrelationship is put into context in our latest article.

Rental housing providers may soon experience a different way conflicts and nuisances are handled in and around their buildings

We've often said that the role of a landlord is morphing from providing housing to becoming credit counselors and de facto social workers. There may now be an exclamation point on that.

Among some interesting, only-in-California bills recently signed, AB 118 establishes a pilot program that shifts emergency response calls away from the police and to a cohort of community-based organizations with experience in mental health, substance abuse, domestic violence, and the like.

In a paradigm shift, many landlords and property managers accustomed to having law enforcement respond to threats and nuisances may find other professionals addressing the underlying behavior, totally throwing off how we normally deal with alarming conduct.

RELATED

Article on the making of AB 118: How a bill that promotes alternatives to policing has evolved

Our article: Using Temporary Restraining Orders to respond to violence or threats by tenants

From our blog: What landlords should know when tenants seek emergency assistance

From our blog: Handling criminal activity in rental units

From the San Francisco Chronicle: 6 impactful new California laws Gavin Newsom signed over the weekend

Questions? Contact the firm built for rental property owners. We keep our eye on the big picture while handling more mundane landlord-tenant disputes and skillfully handling the details.