Proposition 33 Will Only Lead to Increased Housing Costs and Block Housing Production, Including Affordable Housing

Last Updated: December 4, 2024By

Here we go again…Proposition 33 should seem very familiar to us all. That’s because nearly 60% of California voters rejected the same flawed scheme in 2018 (Proposition 10) and again in 2020 (Proposition 21). Seniors, veterans, and affordable housing experts all oppose Proposition 33 because it will make the housing crisis far worse. If Proposition 33 is passed, the following will occur:

  • Local jurisdictions can ELIMINATE YOUR RIGHT to increase rent to market following a tenant’s vacancy, or in other words, we will have “vacancy control” in place like the City of New York.
  • Costa-Hawkins, a state law that exempts from rent control new residential development, single-family homes, condominiums, and accessory dwelling units will be eliminated. Even a bedroom you rent inside your home may fall prey to rent control.
  • All residential rental properties of any type may fall under local rent control ordinances – local jurisdictions will have the right to impose low annual rent “caps” on properties that today are exempt or covered under state rent control (Tenant Protection Act, or Assembly Bill 1482). Fees will increase.
  • Assuming the experience in California is the same as New York City, property owners can expect to lose 40% or more of the equity in their rental properties.
  •  Property values will decline and so will property tax revenues – local governments will have far less money to fund our schools and pay our first responders leaving a whole in funding that can only be filled through new and/or increased tax schemes.

They’re at it again. Proponents of Proposition 33, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, have taken millions of YOUR taxpayer dollars—billions of dollars profits earned through the Federal Discount Drug program and money that is supposed to be used to help and provide care low-income HIV and AIDS patients—and spent it on yet another of their anti-housing crusades. Once again, they are pushing a measure that will hurt small, independent mom-and-pop landlords, many of who are retirees and dependent upon their rental income to pay for their housing and medical care.

Like its predecessors, Proposition 33 is deeply flawed and deceptively anti-housing. Yet, what we need here in California to solve our housing shortage and affordability issues is clearly more housing. More housing to meet increasing demand lowers costs – it’s all about “supply and demand” and simple economics. However, who in their right mind is going to construct anything with any incentive to do so taken off the table.

Here’s Why We Must VOTE NO on Proposition 33

Proposition 33 is Being Funded by a Slumlord. Proposition 33 was initiated and is being bankrolled by Corporate Chief Executive, Michael Weinstein of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF). The Los Angeles Times describes Mr. Weinstein as a “slumlord” with a long record of health and safety violations and unfair evictions. State housing regulators cited his residents living in “squalid conditions, exposed to roach and bedbug infestations. AHF even allowed a blind tenant to fall down an open elevator shaft according to a lawsuit filed against them by the tenant. After ignoring years of their tenants’ pleas to fix broken elevators, eliminate rodents, and address numerous other non-habitable conditions, AHF recently reached an out-of-court settlement with tenants.

Moreover, AHF and Mr. Weinstein, which have received billions of taxpayer dollars meant to serve patients, has diverted that money to pay for things that have nothing to do with healthcare—building their own real estate empire, while housing people in slum-like conditions in buildings they refuse to fix, and being fined repeatedly for their misuse of funds.

Proposition 33 is Not What is Seems – It is a Trojan Horse That Overturns the State’s Affordable Housing Laws. Proposition 33 is extremely misleading. The measure could effectively overturn more than 100 state housing laws, including laws making it easier to build affordable housing, and fair housing and tenant eviction protections. It could also strip the Attorney General’s ability to enforce certain current housing laws. It’s why one of the state’s most notorious corporate “slumlords” is bankrolling Proposition 33.

Proposition 33 Worsens the Housing Crisis. Economists and housing experts at Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley say Proposition 33 will make California’s housing crisis significantly worse by reducing the construction of new affordable housing. Proposition 33 will reduce housing supply and make it harder to become a homeowner or find a place to rent, driving up costs for renters and home buyers.

Proposition 33 Eliminates Homeowner Protections. Proposition 33 takes away basic protections for homeowners, and condominium and accessory dwelling unit owners, and allows bureaucrats, politicians, and regulators to tell single-family homeowners how much they can charge to rent out a their home and even just a single room in their home. Millions of homeowners will be treated just like corporate landlords and subject to regulations and price controls enacted by unelected boards.

Proposition 33 Weakens Renter Protections. Proposition 33 undermines the strongest statewide rent control law in the nation, Assembly Bill 1482, signed by Governor Newsom and has no protections for renters.

Proposition 33 Will Reduce Property Values by 40% or More. We have seen what can happen when strict rent control regimes are imposed and local jurisdictions control rental pricing when units turnover (a/k/a, “vacancy control”). Non-partisan researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimate extreme rent control measures like this result in an average reduction in single-family home values up to 25%. However, based on New York City’s recent experience, multifamily property values have declined 30% to 40%. We Californians cann’t afford to take another hit with the economic collapse threatening our property values and life savings.

Proposition 33 Offers No Protections for Seniors, Veterans, or Disabled Persons. Proposition 33 has no protections for seniors, veterans, or the disabled. Veterans, seniors, and social justice organizations agree it’s the last thing we need right now. Proposition 33 is opposed by a broad, bi-partisan coalition of prominent organizations and elected officials, including:

We MUST Demand Real Solutions to Our Housing Issues, Not Re-Treaded Policies

We Californians must VOTE NO on Proposition 33 and demand real solutions that encourage, not discourage, housing construction to give us a fighting chance to meet increasing housing demand. Don’t be misled by AHF’s latest scheme to fool California voters. VOTE NO ON PROPOSITION 33!

Now Here’s the Most Important Part…

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP! Please give us your strong support by contributing what you can. The cost of losing at the ballot box is far more than a few hundred or a few thousand dollars…the outcome could cost each of us hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost rental income and equity value of our investment properties. Please give generously…funds are needed as soon as possible.


Via Online Credit Card:
Website: AAGLA.org/IssuesPAC

By Check:
AAGLA Issues PAC – Against Rent Control
c/o Reed & Davidson, LLP
Attn. Cary Davidson, Treasurer
515 S. Figueroa Street, Suite 1110
Los Angeles, California 90071

Please Complete and Mail Back this Form: Click Here >

Contributions to Issues PAC of Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles are not tax deductible.

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