Hot Topics in California Housing Legislation

The REALTOR® Party of California’s work in Sacramento is driven by our key principles, advocating for property rights and policy solutions that make way for more homeownership opportunities and defeating legislation that will further harm property owners and exacerbate the state’s housing crisis. This week, we are featuring one bill that we are actively working to defeat that imposes unjust and punitive taxation on home sales and does nothing to support new housing opportunities and a sponsored bill that would create more housing opportunities.

Bad For California Homeowners
AB 1771 (Ward) – STRONGLY OPPOSED

The California Association of REALTORS® (C.A.R.) is vigorously opposing AB 1771 by Assemblymember Chris Ward which would create an unprecedented tax on the sale of a home in the first seven years after purchase.  If the home was sold within the first three years, the tax would be a punitive 25%. The bill is especially unfair as homeowners move for many reasons unrelated to the supposed “speculation” the bill claims to address.  It is unbelievable that in a time of record surpluses the state would punish property owners simply for deciding to move. Furthermore, the bill does nothing to create new housing opportunities. In fact, it would incentivize investors to actually hold on to their properties longer – further depressing California’s housing supply. It reduces opportunities for intergenerational wealth as the exorbitant taxes will reduce the economic benefits of home ownership.

Helps Create New Homeownership Opportunities
AB 2170 (Grayson) - C.A.R. SPONSORED

To make the dream of homeownership closer to reality for more California families, the California Association of REALTORS® (C.A.R.) is sponsoring Assembly Bill 2170 by Assemblymember Tim Grayson. This bill will provide interested homeowners an opportunity to buy an affordable home by prohibiting Government Sponsored Entities (GSE) or federal government institutions like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from selling foreclosed homes in bulk to large Wall Street investors and institutions. The measure will also require GSEs and financial institutions for the first 30 days to consider and respond to bids from a potential homeowner before an investor.

Stay tuned for updates over the next several months about these bills and other legislation. If you have a question, contact [email protected].