The Briefing: Support California's SB 295, People Power in Georgia, Sweetheart Deal with Airbnb
The Briefing is a weekly analysis of housing news explained from the tenant-activist perspective.
In California, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the parent organization of Housing Is A Human Right, is sponsoring a bill called SB 295. It bans rent-fixing software used by corporate landlords to collude and wildly inflate rents. It's the kind of software made by RealPage, the controversial Big Tech company based in Texas.
SB 295 is currently working its way through the California legislature. So we urge you to immediately contact your state senator and assembly member and tell them to vote "yes" on the bill. Read this excellent op-ed for more details, and share and like our post.
In Georgia, a coalition of tenants, housing groups, and civic leaders have started a new advocacy campaign called “End the Corporate Takeover.”
It’s another effort by advocates and renters in the United States to unify and use people power to stand up to uber-wealthy corporate landlords – together, tens of millions of tenants and activists can put extreme pressure on politicians to pass strong renter protections and quickly build more affordable and homeless housing. Read our article and share and like our post to spread the word.
Angelenos are facing a housing affordability crisis that’s fueling a homelessness crisis. Yet Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass wants to make a sweetheart deal with Airbnb that would take rental units off the market and turn them into tourist housing for the 2028 Summer Olympics, resulting in higher rents across the city.
It makes no sense, and we ask you to contact your City Council member and tell him or her to reject the mayor's plan. Read our opinion piece at CityWatch LA and share and like our post.
We applaud the Upland City Council in California for reinstating rent stabilization for mobile home parks, where many seniors on fixed incomes live. Mobile home parks have been increasingly bought up by corporate landlords, who then charge excessive, unfair rents that middle- and working-class residents can't afford.
So the Upland City Council did the right thing -- only rent stabilization protects people against Big Real Estate's predatory business practices. Read the article and share and like our post.
The Stockton City Council in California is currently studying the need for rent regulations. Stockton has become increasingly unaffordable for middle- and working-class tenants, and we urge city council members to swiftly help them.
We also want to note that predatory landlords and the California Apartment Association will roll out the same old talking points about rent control or rent stabilization, but those arguments have been proven wrong by experts. Read the article and share and like our post.
Until next time…
Patrick Range McDonald is an award-winning investigative reporter and advocacy journalist for Housing Is A Human Right.