SCCAOR Opposes Prop 21

Proposition 21 is a statewide initiative on the November 3, 2020 ballot. Prop 21 would repeal portions of the state’s existing rental housing laws (Costa Hawkins) and open the door for extreme forms of rent control to be enacted at the local level. It is nearly identical to 2018’s Prop 10, which voters rejected by nearly 20 points.

Proposition 21 would allow for permanent price caps on all forms of housing, including single-family homes and condos. Independent academic experts from Stanford and UC Berkeley agree that policies like Prop 21 discourage new construction and reduce the availability of affordable and middle-class housing, driving up rents for many Californians.

It would also allow cities to remove “vacancy decontrol” which allows a housing provider to raise the rent on a unit to market rate when a tenant moves out. Eliminating this penalizes those housing providers who work collaboratively with their tenants keeping rents below market rate.