Lori visited an actor/friend yesterday who is considering renting his L.A. pad for a year while he shoots a movie and travels the world. We have tons of friends and clients who do this: rent out their houses, go on an adventure, and return home.

 

Right now, you can rent your primary residence for as much as you want (as long as the initial term is 30 days or more - different rules for short-term rentals), raise the rent as much as you want (after the initial lease), and if you want to move back in, per state rent control, simply serve your tenants a 60-day notice to move. 

 

That might change. If Proposition 33 passes next month, the city of L.A. (or any California city for that matter) will likely put your house under rent control - telling you how much you can rent it for and, once tenants move in, how much you can raise it each year, if at all. There will likely also be protections for tenants that make it far more difficult to get them out than a simple notice. 

 

Want to travel the world and rent out your house? Careful now. If Prop 33 passes, depending on your local council's new laws, it may make more sense just to keep it empty.

 

Similar propositions were on the ballot in 2018.

 

And 2020. 

 

And each time lost by large margins, but this one is polling better.

 

It’s not surprising. The rent is indeed too damn high, and the calls for more rent control have never been louder. But robust rent control already exists, with separate city and state laws all applying in a somewhat confusing but very comprehensive way.

 

As it stands, those laws just don’t cover your house. I think that makes sense: homeowners should be able to rent their houses for financial or personal reasons and not lose control of their homes. They should certainly be able to decide how much they can rent them for and be met with little challenge should they elect to move back in. And that is what the Costa-Hawkins Acts protects.

 

It also incentivizes building.

 

If you missed my newsletter last week, I fundamentally believe that the solution to the housing crisis is more housing. Exempting new construction from rent control (as the Costa-Hawkins Act currently does) incentivizes building, and we need more building.

 

Also, for me, this is a matter of state control vs. local control. 

 

I think letting each of California’s 483 cities make their own rules is what caused this housing crisis in the first place. We need more, not less, higher-level control on zoning and development.

 

🔑 2446 N Commonwealth Ave, Los Feliz - A stunning updated Spanish located in the Los Feliz Hills - Listed at $2,995,000 - Open Sunday 12-3pm serving up Courage Bagels!

 

🔑 3505 London St, Silver Lake - A fully renovated Craftsman in Silver Lake - Listed at $1,199,000 - Open Sunday 12-3pm serving up Maury's Bagels!

 

🔑 808 Inverness Drive, La Canada - Architectural heritage meets modern refinement in this 1961 Mid-Century Ranch designed by Kathryn McCullough - Listed at $3,950,000 - Open Sunday 2-4pm

 

🔑 3372 Ley Drive, Los Feliz - A reimagined traditional home by Louis & Rose in Los Feliz - Listed at $3,685,000 - Open Saturday 1:30-4pm and Sunday 2-5PM

 

🔑 1149 Elevado St, Silver Lake - A Mid-Century oasis in the heart of Silver Lake - Listed at $1,995,000 - Open Saturday 2-4pm and Sunday 2-5pm

 

🔑 2656 Locksley Pl, Silver Lake - Newly renovated designer compound features a pool and an ADU - Listed at $2,995,000 - Open Sunday 1-3pm 

 

🔑 5206 Los Bonitos Way, Los Feliz - Palm Springs meets Los Angeles in this 1960s beauty featured in Architectural Digest - Listed at $4,295,000 - Open Sunday 2-5pm

 

🔑 2913 Angus St, Silver Lake - Impeccably preserved Tudor-style home in the Ivanhoe School District- Listed at $2,695,000 - Open Saturday and Sunday 12-2pm.

 

       -Brock

 

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