Rent control hearing draws crowd

Lawmakers met at the state Capitol on Thursday for a joint hearing on an initiative that would allow allow California cities and counties to adopt stronger rent control laws, which limit how much landlords are allowed to raise rents each year.

The initiative would repeal a 23-year-old state law, known as the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, that sets tight limits on all forms of rent control across California.

Under the law, any local rent control passed after February 1995 can not apply to large amounts of housing stock, including new apartment buildings occupied after that date, single-family homes, duplexes and condos.

Opponents argue that stronger rent control will deter home construction.

This story was originally published June 21, 2018 at 9:40 PM with the headline "Rent control hearing draws crowd."