![]() The 2019 law, introduced by Chiu and co-authored by then-Assemblymember Bonta, capped annual rent hikes to 5% plus inflation. ![]() “The Legislature has been doing tenants very few to no favors right now, so Bonta is picking up their slack and we’re very appreciative of that.” A rent cap in name only? “It’s been really frustrating that the Legislature passed and then appeared completely unwilling to actually enforce it,” said Shanti Singh, a lobbyist and spokesperson for Tenants Together, a statewide renter advocacy organization. Bonta’s announcement of the state’s first-ever enforcement action amounts to a very public flashing of fangs. Tenant rights groups have decried the 2019 law as toothless ever since it took effect. The company reimbursed three tenants and admitted in a letter that the rent hikes were “higher than permitted by law.” ![]() Some of those tenants reached out to local legal aid organizations, which brought the issue to the state’s Department of Justice. AP Photo/Eric RisbergĪs San Jose Spotlight reported last year, Swenson increased the rent on nearly two dozen tenants living near San Jose’s Japantown in 2021. Of that, $331,130 will be refunded to tenants in overpaid back rent.Īttorney General Rob Bonta during a confirmation hearing for the Supreme Court of California in San Francisco on March 22, 2022. Under the terms of a settlement filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court, Green Valley, which also does business under the name Swenson Builders, will be forced to pay $391,130. The attorney general noted that this was a first for his office. “When the Legislature writes a law and the governor signs it, it’s the law, it’s not a suggestion, it’s not a recommendation, it’s not a ‘if you want to,’” said Bonta. The settlement also states that the company unlawfully evicted six tenants without providing a “just cause,” another violation. will be on the hook for hiking the rent on 20 Silicon Valley tenants by an average of 151% - far in excess of the cap set by the law. Nearly four years later, the state announced its first enforcement action against a landlord under the California rent control law.Īttorney General Rob Bonta announced Wednesday, June 14 that San Jose-based developer and property manager Green Valley Corp. Gavin Newsom signed a law to shield California renters from double-digit rent hikes and arbitrary evictions.
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