Assemblywoman Tina McKinnor (Photo: tina4ca.com)
Bill To Halt Mandatory Evictions Based On Tenant Criminal History Passes Assembly, Senate
Gov. Newsom has one month to decide on bill
By Evan Symon, September 15, 2023 11:42 am
A bill that would halt all mandatory evictions in the state because of the criminal history of tenants passed both the Assembly and Senate this week, with a final decision by Governor Gavin Newsom due within the next month.
Assembly Bill 1418, authored by Assemblywoman Tina McKinnor (D-Hawthorne), would specifically prohibit a local government from imposing a penalty against a resident, owner, tenant, landlord, or other person as a consequence of contact with a law enforcement agency. AB 1418 would also prohibit a local government from requiring or encouraging a landlord to evict or penalize a tenant because of the tenant’s association with another tenant or household member who has had contact with a law enforcement agency or has a criminal conviction or to perform a criminal background check of a tenant or a prospective tenant. Finally, the bill would preempt inconsistent local ordinances, rules, policies, programs, or regulations and prescribe remedies for violations.
AB 1418 would, however, not limit landlords from evicting residents based on other reasons, such as those involving nuisance complaints or failure to pay. Landlords would also be able to still screen tenants beforehand for prior criminal histories.
If signed, the bill will go into effect starting on January 1, 2024.
Assemblywoman McKinnor authored the bill because of an uptick of crime-free housing laws in recent years. McKinnor claims that the laws specifically target black and Latino communities across the state, and that the laws have been used in the past to gentrify areas and displace residents.
“We want to make sure we keep Black and brown people in their homes and that crime-free housing rules are not used as an excuse for gentrification,” said McKinnor.
The movement to do away with at least some of these laws has seen a building of momentum since the George Floyd protests in 2020. In particular, the recent final report by the Reparations Task Force specifically noted the unfairness of crime-free housing rules and called for them to be removed as part of reparations.
AB 1418 passes Senate, Assembly unanimously
Following introduction earlier this year, AB 1418 saw an unusually high number of supporters, including the California Apartment Association (CAA), which has long been in support of landlords in the state. Even prior supporters of the practice, such as law enforcement groups, did not oppose the bill.
“This is an inappropriate and objectionable mandate on the part of local governments,” said CAA Vice President Debra Carlton.
With little to no opposition, AB 1418 sailed through the Assembly and Senate this year. In May, the bill passed in the Assembly 72-0 with 8 abstentions. Throughout the summer, AB 1418 proceeded to pass all committees unanimously, with only the rare abstention only occasionally popping up. This led to the 39-0 Senate vote and the 75-0 Assembly vote earlier this week, with the latter happening a second time to to amendments made following the initial Assembly vote in May.
While there has been no opposition to the bill, it is still unknown if Governor Newsom will sign it. He previously opposed such a repeal, but the part that he had objected to, namely about how much the state would need to pay for local reimbursements, was dealt with in this version of the bill. Nonetheless, many housing experts have said that even if AB 1418 passes, landlords and others would still have plenty of ways to remove tenants besides crime-free housing laws.
“If a tenant is bad or really unwanted, there are still many ways to legally remove them even with AB 1418 becoming law,” said landlord legal advisor Marianne Morris. “There’s a reason why many of these groups aren’t fighting against this bill. First of all, it is seen by many as a troublesome law already, so being in favor of the bill is a no-brainer to many. But, past that, there are still so many ways to remove tenants legally. Non-payment and nuisances are the big ones. Landlords still have a lot of leeway even with AB 1418. Again, if the bill was really going to stop a lot of wanted evictions, you would have seen a lot more people oppose it.”
Gov. Newsom is expected to decide on AB 1418 by mid-October.
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He never signs with taxpayers in mind.
This is outrageous; the Dem/Marxist pro-criminal, anti-public-safety, societal chaos, usurpation of private property rights never ends.
Newsom’s contact page, to write or call his office to VETO this and so much more of the legislative nonsense that has been recklessly passed and covered here at the Globe:
https://www.gov.ca.gov/contact/
It’s a good habit to get into, good practice, and gives individual citizens a rooting interest, even if we understandably often think this governor will be bound and determined to sign all of this nonsense anyway.
It should be called the”Keep Sticking It To The Landlord “ bill.
Honestly have any of these people earned a living before politics? Have they owned a rental?
Not so easy to remove a tenant.
I will never rent out a property ever again in this state! These same advocates cry there is a lack of housing! Gee wonder why?
Democrat Assemblywoman Tina McKinnor is a typical Democrat politician who has never started or ran a business. She has been mostly dependent on taxpayers. McKinnor began her career with the Los Angeles County Office of Education, serving as an accounting clerk and auditor. During the 2004 United States presidential election, McKinnor worked for creepy deep-state globalist John Kerry’s presidential campaign as co-chair of African-Americans for Kerry. She was also a Kerry delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention. She worked on campaigns for Democrat state Senator Steven Bradford and state Democrat Assemblywoman Autumn Burke. Prior to being elected to the state assembly, McKinnor was a civic engagement director for L.A. Voice, a community advocacy organization, and previously served as chief of staff to several members of the California State Assembly. In 2019, she was the California campaign strategist for PL+US, an organization that advocates for paid leave policies. McKinnor also worked as Operations Director for the California Democratic Party.
Thanks @TJ
Always enjoy your background reporting!
P.S. Why am I not surprised by her background😏
NO kidding, Cali Girl. You said it.
AB 1418 is a gang house charter. This means that gang members can longer be evicted from public housing as well as private rentals. Anyone who remembers cities like SF and LA in the 1980’s and 1990’s know how this works. Within a few year most public housing projects will be back under full control the gangs again. And in cities like SF whole areas like the Mission, Outer Mission, Crocker Amazon etc will become the crime ridden hell holes they were when gang houses were common.
The simplest explanation for bills like AB 1418 is that Tina McKinnor is working for the gangs. Her assembly record looks like straight Pay to Play Bills. Plus its not like the Democratic Party does not have a very long history of politicians working directly with organized crime. Just look at Nancy Pelosi’s father in Baltimore. The classic mafia mayor of the 1950’s.
Interesting, tfourier. This resonates, too, from living in L.A. during those times.
There was a posting on her twitter account about this very subject. The reply was a link to some LAT press release minor rewrite article. When a link to the bill was posted in reply combined with the gang house charter query. No rebuttal. Thats tell me all I need to know. She is working for the gangs. If there was some other prime mover for the bill that would have been in any reply.
Anyone familiar with the history of organized crime and its links with politicians in LA will know how this works. Not really new here. Just the players. But she is still working for the gangs.
That’s convincing enough for me, tfourier. If she can’t be tossed out, at the very least with this knowledge, which is very good knowledge to have, the citizenry needs to watch everything she proposes or which has her name on it like a hawk, publicize the heck out of it, and battle it with everything we have. Almost unanimous agreement by the legislature for this nonsense? What?
So no asking about a tenant’s criminal record and now no eviction for criminal activity? Couple this with no bail laws and slap on the hand sentencing, and you have the complete elimination of any deterrent to criminal activity.
The goal is to force smaller landlords to sell to big corporations so you’ll own nothing.