David Chiu

In the months until a new renter law takes effect, tenant rights groups are scrambling to combat what they say is a wave of landlords exploit a temporary loophole. Could it have been avoided?

The measure would cap annual rent hikes at 5% plus inflation and force landlords to list a "just cause" for evictions.

In this episode of Gimme Shelter, Matt Levin of CalMatters and Liam Dillon of the Los Angeles Times discuss the shifting politics and policy of Assembly Bill 1482, and its prospects for becoming law.

Democratic lawmakers sought to tighten oversight of the troubled industry. Then the lobbying began.

Jared Martin: In this legislative session, our state’s leaders have spoken with great passion about solving the housing crisis. They say this is the most critical issue facing California. They question how our state’s future will look if we don’t act now. Yet lawmakers haven’t been willing to take the tough votes to move forward meaningful policy that advances the solution: supply.

Susan Harman, California Public Banking Alliance, Oakland Dan Walters’ April 28 Commentary on Assemblyman David Chiu’s Assembly Bill 857, the local public bank bill, is a dumb comment on a very smart bill. In his commentary, Walters writes says that shifting local governmental funds away from the Wall Street banks they’re in now will have “virtually […]

Brett Garrett, Santa Cruz Cities such as Oakland and Los Angeles are eager to divest from large banks that invest in fossil fuels or engage in unethical business practices. These cities can benefit from Assemblyman David Chiu’s Assembly Bill 857, which will establish a framework for licensing public banks, owned by local or regional government entities. […]

A bill aimed at protecting California tenants from “egregious” rent hikes cleared a key hurdle in the state Legislature today, less than 24 hours after pro-tenant groups learned their latest try to expand tighter rent controls throughout California is flailing in the Capitol.

Please subscribe to the Gimme Shelter podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Soundcloud, Google Play, Spotify or Overcast.  Ready for another fight over rent control? Six months after a statewide initiative that could have expanded rent control across California was rejected overwhelmingly at the polls, a group of progressive state lawmakers are back with a suite of pro-tenant legislation […]

Jeanny Morris had a 1-year-old baby and a resume of dead-end retail jobs when she enrolled in the Marinello Schools of Beauty cosmetology program in 2012. She used her welfare benefits to pay for transportation to and from school where, she says, staff pressured her to take out student loans to pay for supplies they […]