As the legislative session came to an end this past Monday, one important housing law that made it past the Senate was SB 1069, a bill that would ease local requirements on “granny” or Accessory Dwelling Units. Presently, local governments can impose a number of restrictions on granny-units, including requirements related to parking, setbacks, and installation of utility connections, hurdles that often prove too costly or onerous for primary unit owners to implement. By prohibiting these... more

Readers may recall the Housing Accountability Act, a little-known state law that made headlines last year in a lawsuit against Lafayette. The California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund (CaRLA) decided to sue the East Bay suburb after it goaded a developer into downsizing a housing project from a 300-unit apartment complex into 44 single-family homes. In its current form, the law gives standing to applicants and potential tenants to sue a municipality for rejecting a... more