AAOC Opposes Proposition 33 – Repealing Costa Hawkins

For the third time in four election cycles the AIDS Healthcare Foundation has qualified a ballot initiative to push rent control statewide in California. The two previous attempts – Proposition 10 in 2018, and Proposition 21 in 2020 failed each time receiving nearly 60% of Californians voting NO each time. AAOC stands firm to make sure that the third time is NOT the charm for Michael Weinstein and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

Proposition 33 seeks to eliminate the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act from the State Constitution. Costa-Hawkins – which became state law in 1995 – provides protection for single-family homeowners, properties built after 1995, and general law cities from the deleterious effects of rent control policies. Additionally, the Costa-Hawkins Act has preserved “vacancy decontrol” to enable rental units to be brought up to market rates once existing tenants move out.

 “Vacancy Decontrol” allows rental property owners to better ensure that their properties meet the demands associated with providing rental housing. Often the limits of rent control allow for inflation to outpace the cost of providing rental housing.

Increased costs from insurance, maintenance, labor, municipal services, taxes and municipal bonds, and other costs outpace the maximum rate of allowable rent increases in rent-controlled communities. Policies such as eliminating vacancy decontrol have led to situations where units are taken off the market entirely. San Francisco has seen many property owners take their entire buildings off the rental market and convert them into condos and “for sale” housing. New York currently shows over 100,000 units that are not available for rent because the income from renting the units far exceeds the costs to provide the units.

California is currently experiencing a housing crisis with a need for 2 million additional housing units. We cannot afford to further burden our neighbors with the unintended consequences of policies that make housing affordability and availability worse.

AAOC requests that you join us in opposing Proposition 33. Join our coalition – Californians for Protecting Affordable Housing – and contribute today to AAOC's Multi-County Property Rights PAC.

For more information, visit our "No on Proposition 33" information page.