Pet Laws Could Change for Millions in California

Landlords could be compelled to allow renters to have pets in the properties they reside in under a new proposal introduced to the California legislature.

On February, Assembly Member Matt Haney, a Democrat representing the eastern part of San Francisco, proposed drafting new legislation that would expand the list of things a landlord is not allowed to prevent a tenant doing. Assembly Bill 2216 would not enact the change itself if passed, but would signal the legislature's intention to draft a bill that does.

"Existing law prohibits a landlord from, among other things, preventing a tenant from posting or displaying political signs, subject to specified exceptions," it says. "This bill would state the intent of the legislature to enact legislation related to a landlord's ability to prohibit common household pets in residential tenancies."

Haney—one of just five state legislators who rent their homes out of 120—who has been campaigning to improve the situation for renters in the state, wrote in a press release on Tuesday announcing the measure that among 17 million renters in California, close to 12 million own pets—but that only around 30 percent of rental properties in cities were pet-friendly.

His office said that in San Fracisco, around 21 percent of available rental properties allowed for pets, while this was marginally higher—26 percent—in Los Angeles.

Haney argued that a lack of pet-friendly housing was depriving families of desirable accommodation, while hundreds of thousands owned pets without their landlord's knowledge, breaching their rental agreement and leaving those landlords without adequate insurance coverage.

The assembly member said the issue was "dramatically exacerbating" California's housing crisis, adding: "We won't be able to solve this crisis if 12 million people across the state are being denied access to that housing because they have a companion pet. The majority of renters in our state, pet owners, are denied access to the majority of rental units."

According to Haney's office, a survey of 240 animal shelters across the state found that nearly 68,000 pets were surrendered by their owners, with a leading cause said to be a lack of access to pet-friendly housing. Newsweek has not seen the survey and could not immediately verify the claim.

Landlords are already expressing concern about the implications the draft legislation could have on their exposure to property liability.

Krista Gulbransen, executive director of the Berkeley Property Owners Association, told local news outlet KQED that the bill would deprive landlords of the ability to choose whether they wished to take on the additional risk of property damage that comes with having a pet in the house.

"The biggest concern is just not being able to make that determination of risk and make a decision based on that," she said.

Haney responded that exceptions would be made to the new law, which could include health- and nuisance-related restrictions. Newsweek approached Haney's office via email for further comment on Wednesday.

According to Sacramento TV station KCRA 3, the bill is expected to be heard in committee in March.