Join us at Livable California in helping millions of working-class and elderly Californians stay in their homes, by making sure that badly needed AB 854 becomes law.

This bill costs you nothing. But it must pass the California State Assembly floor vote this week — or it dies.

So please take just a few minutes, a simple but powerful way to help so many!

Please contact the assembly member offices below. Urge them to support AB 854. If your time is limited, please call the boldfaced legislators first. More time? Please call them all.

Assemblymember Arambula (Fresno): 916-319-2031

Assemblymember Burke (Inglewood): 916-319-2062

Assemblymember Calderon (Whittier): 916-319-2057

Assemblymember Cervantes (Corona): 916-319-2060

Assemblymember Daly (Anaheim): 916-319-2069

Assemblymember E. Garcia (Coachella): 916-319-2056

Assemblymember Gipson (Compton): 916-319-2064

Assemblymember Irwin (Camarillo): 916-319-2044

Assemblymember Low (Cupertino): 916-319-2028

Assemblymember Medina (Riverside): 916-319-2061

Assemblymember Muratsuchi (Torrance): 916-319-2066

Assemblymember O’Donnell (Long Beach): 916-319-2070

Assemblymember Ramos (Rancho Cucamonga): 916-319-2040

Assemblymember Rubio (West Covina): 916-319-2048

Assemblymember Salas (Bakersfield): 916-319-2032

Assemblymember Villapudua (Stockton): 916-319-2013

Assemblymember Wood (Santa Rosa): 916-319-2002

And please contact your own Assembly member: Find your Assembly member here. Or use this link from a statewide coalition whose effort we strongly support.

For more information and to sign up for updates, see the coalition’s action toolkit here.

BACKGROUND:

The Ellis Act is a California law abused by investors. Using a loophole in the Ellis Act, high-end investors have forced nearly 40,000 Californians out of their homes — to build apartments few people can afford. They buy an apartment building, evict everyone living there en masse, and turn it into a “luxury destination” building.

Tens of thousands of people who pay their rent on time, raise their children, participate in local schools, are “flipped” right out of their homes. Because they’re in the way of speculator profits.

In Los Angeles, nearly 30,000 people were evicted. In San Francisco, 5,000 people were ousted. Even as the homeless counts swell in our cities across California.

Led by Bay Area Assemblymember Alex Lee, the author of AB 854, we can fix the much-abused Ellis Act.

Assembly Bill 854 will face a “floor” vote in the California Assembly before the month’s end, possibly this Thursday, January 27. Your own Assembly member will be voting Yea or Nay. She or he must vote Yea!

Talking points you can use when you reach out to your own legislator today:

If there’s a faster way to balloon up our homeless count in California, the Ellis Act is it.
AB 854 ends the “flipping.” It requires new owners to hold their property for 5 years. No sudden mass evictions by new owners. No sudden evicting of elderly folks and families who can’t possibly land on their feet.
Investors use the Ellis Act to empty out rent-controlled buildings, to transform them into luxury units. Fantastic profit for investors. A disaster for all of us in California.
The State is severely underfunding its budget to build housing for low-income people. A huge mistake. But the State makes it worse by letting the Ellis Act destroy existing rent-controlled apartments.

A quote from Assemblymember Alex Lee: “This bill is an active measure in defense against displacement. It’s badly needed as homelessness gets worse and housing prices become unaffordable. Rent-controlled buildings are one of the most valuable sources of affordable housing for low-income seniors and vulnerable folks. If the units get flipped into the for-profit market, those units disappear for low-income families.”

For more information, watch Asm Alex Lee’s presentation to Livable California here.

We also ask that you donate to Livable California today, right here. We are small fry fighting the wealthiest concerns in California. We thank you so much!