CaRLA News
We’ve filed our first appellate brief in CaRLA v. City of San Mateo
As we announced earlier this year, CaRLA is appealing the ruling we received at trial in our lawsuit against the City of San Mateo for violating the Housing Accountability Act. At the same time, the California Attorney General intervened in our suit to defend the...
Huntington Beach isn’t just breaking quarantine, they’re breaking housing law. CaRLA is suing.
Today, California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund is announcing the filing of yet another lawsuit against a Californian suburb for violating state housing law; this time, in Huntington Beach. The coastal town has made a habit of defying state law mandates in...
It Doesn’t Stop At Housing.
In early April of 1968, the US Senate passed the Fair Housing Act, but the bill’s prospects looked bleak in the House. It appeared that enacting federal legislation to ban discrimination in housing was too much for Congress to take on. Housing had been excluded from...
CEQA and Housing: Raising the Baseline
A special guest post by our friend Chris Elmendorf, Professor of Law at UC Davis School of Law. The California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, has become a bogeyman for YIMBYs, an excuse for cities to deny housing, and tool with which opponents can delay projects...
How do we cancel rent? Navigating the Law to Find Relief for Renters.
Today, rent is due for millions of renters throughout California, many of whom will not be able to pay due to loss of income caused by the pandemic. We have seen the adoption of eviction moratoria throughout the country, a necessary measure to keep renters safe and in...
Los Altos can’t escape state housing law. Today, CaRLA won in court.
Last year, we filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Altos for denying an affordable housing development in violation of SB35 shortly after it was enacted. Today, we’re excited to announce our victory in court. Not only did we win, our hard-fought ruling solidifies...
COVID-19 stopped the economy, but our housing shortage remains. CaRLA continues to fight for the answer to both: ADUs.
The COVID-19 pandemic is changing the course of history but one thing remains constant: the universal need for housing. As events continue to unfold, we are working to stay ahead of how cities plan to recover by making sure they’re taking the right steps to house all...
SB50 would give us all a powerful tool against scofflaw cities. It must be passed.
As a 501c3 non-profit, we're limited in the political advocacy we can take on, especially when elected officials and proposed legislation are involved. This means we rarely come out swinging in favor of any particular piece of legislation unless it makes a compelling...
We’re escalating our fight to make housing a matter of statewide concern by defending it in the Court of Appeals
CaRLA has officially begun work on our appeal of the ruling we received in CaRLA v. San Mateo, because we believe the court is wrong: housing is a statewide issue that cannot be left solely in the hands of local governments.. As we’ve covered before, the trial court’s...
Huntington Beach Reconsiders Housing Denial After CaRLA Threatens Lawsuit
A few months back, Huntington Beach denied a proposed 48-unit housing development right near the beach on Ellis Avenue. The project is located within the special district that is the subject of the state's housing element lawsuit against the city. The project complies...