Housing

Oakland Council member At-Large, Rebecca Kaplan energizes the crowd by sounding the shofar during a pro-rent control rally on Monday, April 23, 2018. That November, a majority of California voters rejected Proposition 10, which would have reduced restrictions on rent control.

Housing

Podcast: The pros and cons of the new rent control initiative

On this episode of "Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Podcast", CalMatters' Matt Levin and the Los Angeles Times' Liam Dillon discuss the politics and policy of Proposition 21.

By

Matt Levin

• October 8, 2020

LA County is working with state, federal and local partners on Project Roomkey, an initiative to bring medically vulnerable people experiencing homelessness indoors during the COVID19 pandemic. Photo by Michael Owen Baker, County of Los Angeles via Flickr

California Divide

Newsom allocates $600 million for permanent housing for homeless

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, California established Project Roomkey, an ambitious initiative to house homeless people in hotels and motels to keep them safe from infections. The project leveraged federal dollars to pay for lodging. Knowing that the program only offered temporary housing, state and local officials have created what they say is a permanent […]

By

Jacqueline Garcia

• October 2, 2020

A protester holds up a sign during a rent strike demonstration in Los Angeles on April 21, 2020. Photo by Ringo Chiu, ZUMA Wire via Alamy Live News

California Divide

California’s rent strike: Who pays and how it works

Once a fringe tactic, rent strikes are gaining political attention around the state as renters seek payment relief amid the coronavirus recession.

By

Nigel Duara

• September 25, 2020

Juliette Saunders, 53, and her fiancee, David Clarke, 60, sit in the living room of their recently sold home in Fullerton on Sept. 15, 2020. Saunders and Clarke are moving to Texas after being furloughed and struggling with unemployment during the pandemic. Photo by Tash Kimmell for CalMatters

Economy

California Exodus: An online industry seizes COVID-19 to sell the Red State Dream

Beyond the conservative Facebook memes and viral YouTube videos, has California reached a breaking point?

By

Lauren Hepler

• September 24, 2020

A multi-family home in Oakland on Sept. 2, 2020. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

Politics

Democratic squabbling doomed California’s ‘Year of housing production.’ What will happen in 2021?

Despite entering 2020 with the governor and many legislators pushing for an increase in housing production, none of the bills put forth went into effect. The coronavirus pandemic has also put prospects for such bills in 2021 in doubt.

By

Matt Levin

• September 11, 2020

Assemblymember Buffy Wicks poses with her newborn baby on the assembly floor as Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris snaps a photo with her phone on Aug. 31, 2020. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

Housing

Podcast: Buffy Wicks on the eviction deal and the duplex debacle

On this episode of "Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Podcast", CalMatters' Matt Levin and the Los Angeles Times' Liam Dillon interview Wicks on the bizarre duplex debacle, the state's emergency eviction protections, and her newfound fame.

By

Matt Levin

• September 8, 2020

California Divide

Here’s what you need to know about California’s eviction protections

Just days before courts resumed processing eviction filings after a five-month freeze, California this week enacted statewide protections through next year for tenants struggling to pay rent amid the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. More than 8 million Californians have filed for unemployment since mid-March and advocates fear a massive eviction wave as both tenants […]

By

Laurence Du Sault

• September 4, 2020

Person opening a door. In an emergency measure, California renters financially impacted by the coronavirus pandemic will be protected from eviction until at least next February. But while tenants, landlord and banking groups all urged lawmakers to approve the evictions deal, the compromise’s specifics have left some parties severely disappointed. Image via iStock

Housing

Analysis: How renters, landlords and banks fared in the eviction compromise

A compromise to prevent feared eviction tsunami passes Legislature with little time to spare.

By

Matt Levin

• August 31, 2020

The State Capitol in Sacramento, California, September 10, 2015. California Bills.

Explainers

The final say: Gov. Newsom has decided which of these 2020 bills will be California law

In a year when the coronavirus pandemic upended every aspect of normal life, the impact in the California Capitol was also dramatic. Lawmakers took an unprecedented two-month pause in the spring, when Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide order for people to stay home to prevent the spread of the virus. They returned to the […]

By

CalMatters Staff

• August 31, 2020

Rodalfo Cortes, a tenant activist, protests in front of El Monte City Hall for a stricter eviction moratorium on March 29, 2020. Photo by Pierce Singgih, SCNG

Housing

Newsom, lawmakers strike pandemic eviction deal. Here’s what you need to know

The proposed deal has some eviction protection provisions for tenants, but no rent forgiveness. Proponents of the bill insist that it’s a stopgap measure meant to help Californians in need until — they hope — federal aid comes through.

By

Matt Levin

• August 28, 2020