Housing omnibus.

The bill's author, the Committee on Housing and Community Development, threads a housing omnibus that centers on codifying and expanding tenant protections while clarifying notice regimes for assisted housing and mortgage foreclosures. At its core, it would permit the required notice to terminate a tenancy with just cause to be provided in the lease or rental agreement itself, rather than solely as a separate written addendum or notice signed by the tenant. The provision continues to apply after a tenant has occupied a unit for 12 months, with no-fault or at-fault just causes enumerated, and it preserves conditions for scenarios where additional adults join a lease before 24 months of occupancy.

The measure also tightens notice requirements and stakeholder communications for assisted housing developments. It would require a notice of scheduled expiration of rental restrictions or subsidy termination to remain posted until the expiration or termination occurs, and it would specify that an initial 12-month (and related) notice to tenants and affected public entities must precede or accompany certain changes. It would require the notice of the opportunity to purchase to be given before or concurrently with the 12-month notice, and it would replace a prior requirement that the initial notice include a statement about whether the owner has an interest in selling with a clearer statement that specified entities have the right to submit a bona fide offer to purchase. The bill also expands mortgage-related notice requirements to include mailing to the office of the Director of Housing and Community Development and the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee where a use restriction has been recorded, while clarifying that noncompliance does not invalidate a trustee’s sale or a sale to a bona fide purchaser.

On affordability terms, the legislation would modify rent limits for certain developments. For 80 percent of units dedicated to lower-income households, affordable rent would be limited to an amount “consistent with” the maximum rent levels for those households as determined by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, but only if the development receives specified awards after January 1, 2025 (including tax credits, tax-exempt bonds or similar financing, and certain government loans or grants). For other affordable units, the existing framework—30 percent of income or, for various categories, similarly defined calculations—remains, with an option for agencies to adopt alternative criteria. The bill also defines use restrictions and related terms to align with subsidized housing programs and indicates that these definitions may be refined through department regulations.

Additional provisions address the oversight and coordination of subsidized housing policies. The bill would require coordination with the Department of General Services and the Department of Food and Agriculture to identify available excess sites near migrant farm labor centers, prioritizing permanent farmworker housing with targeted emphasis on need. It also keeps a contingency in place that Section 1.5’s amendments to the Civil Code operative only under specified cross-bill conditions, coordinates with the SB 522 framework, and directs the Department of Housing and Community Development to approve forms for owners to use in complying with the new notice provisions. Finally, it creates reporting obligations and cost-reimbursement mechanics if state-mandated costs are determined, and extends related implementation timelines through 2028.