Kelly Campbell’s son owns a husky and he reflects on the challenges his son faces in finding pet-friendly apartments.
“My son has a dog and he's going to find it difficult," Campbell says. "He's living with us right now, but if he tries to move out, it's very difficult to find a place that will allow dogs.”
Campbell, who is a Pismo Beach resident is one of the millions of pet owners in California, who have found it hard in the past to find a pet-friendly home.
But a proposed bill aims to change this problem.
“We thought the most straightforward way to address this is to require that landlords actually have a reason and they can still put limitations and then also address these exorbitant rents that we're seeing," Mart Haney, California State Representative says.
Haney has proposed Assembly Bill 2216. A groundbreaking bill that would ban blanket ‘No Pet Policies’ and ban landlords from asking about pets in rental applications.
Contrary to headlines stating that the bill “Would require landlords to accept pets”, Haney wants to clarify that the bill does not state that.
“The big flashy headline was Landlords will be forced to take pets. That's not what this is going to do," Haney says. "This will lead, I believe, to some of these blanket no-pet bans that have no rationale to be lifted and some more opportunities for tenants who have pets.”
While past renters like Campbell anticipate positive changes for pet-friendly housing for his son:
“I think that there should be some reasonable compromise that could be made with the landlords to allow pets.”
Property owners like Denny Keeler express concerns about potential property damages caused by irresponsible pet owners.
“Making those repairs as an investor in an apartment or in a housing, it makes it challenging because you have to be fair," Keeler says. "But at the same time, you know, it's a large investment.”
Haney acknowledges landlords' perspectives and expresses openness to their feedback during the bill's legislative process.
“If you have a huge dog, a landlord could still take that family or renter and be able to require some sort of liability insurance to cover potential damages," Haney says.
The bill will be heard in its first committee in the Assembly likely in March or April, where questions and comments from stakeholders, tenants, and landlords will be heard. If approved by the legislature and signed by the Governor, the earliest it could be implemented would be in 2025.
