• Read Our Annual Report for 2018

    2018 was a big year for housing! Read our Annual Report to learn where CaRLA fit in: what we did, where we’re going, and why we’re recognized as the statewide expert on the Housing Accountability Act.

    [Continue Reading]

  • This Saturday in Orange County: Our Next Housing Law Workshop

    We’re excited to announce our second Housing Law Workshop of 2019! Join Dylan and Victoria this Saturday, March 2nd at the Fowler School of Law at Chapman University, room 142, starting at 10:00am. In this workshop, you’ll learn all about what state laws can do for housing affordability when wielded by organizers like yourself. No

    [Continue Reading]

  • Tomorrow’s housing law workshop: How to babysit your local planning commission!

    As we announced earlier this year, we’ll be holding our first Housing Law Workshop of 2019: How to baby sit your local planning commission. Join us tomorrow, February 2nd at 2pm in Downtown Oakland’s Meetspace Community Center at 2044 Franklin St. RSVP is not required, but it is encouraged so we can have sufficient materials

    [Continue Reading]

  • Start your 2019 with a Housing Law Workshop!

    2019 promises to be an exciting year in housing law. New legislation, a new governor, and we can pretty much guarantee that cities will find new ways to violate state law. They do it every year. The good news is CaRLA is keeping on top of it so you don’t have to! We’re excited to

    [Continue Reading]

  • Lawsuit: How to Fix San Francisco’s ADU Rules for Single-Family Homes

    Today CaRLA has filed a lawsuit against the City of San Francisco to correct portions of its ADU ordinance that fail to comply with state requirements. Last summer, San Francisco updated its ADU ordinance in several ways that made it easier to develop ADUs in the city. We support these changes, and recognize that San

    [Continue Reading]

  • Case Spotlight: Berkeley

    One of our earlier cases was 1310 Haskell St, Berkeley, CA. Here, Cristian wanted to replace one single family mansion in a low-rise South Berkeley neighborhood with three working class homes, each selling for less than $800,000. The alternative was to flip the property for millions, which was what the City of Berkeley voted for in

    [Continue Reading]

  • Sometimes cities do the right thing: Los Angeles cancels landmarking of a gas station.

    Not all of our cases make it to litigation. In fact, many of them never make it through to an unlawful denial. In every case, we start out by submitting a stern letter reminding the city in question of their obligation to follow state law, and sometimes it works! Earlier this year, CaRLA submitted a

    [Continue Reading]

  • Last week, we helped save affordable housing in Dublin. This week, help us continue the fight.

    Last week, we announced a victory in our lawsuit against the City of Dublin for their unlawful denial of 220 homes next to the Dublin BART station. Tracking the 500-plus cities and counties of California is a monumental task. CaRLA has a staff of three doing that hard work round-the-clock, but it is simply impossible

    [Continue Reading]

  • Dublin fought the law. CaRLA secured a victory for renters.

    Earlier this year, CaRLA filed a lawsuit against the city of Dublin for an unlawful denial of 220 homes at Dublin BART. Today, we are excited to announce that we have secured a victory in our suit. The City of Dublin will be reconsidering their decision to ban renters by approving the 220 homes in

    [Continue Reading]

  • Hey Caltrain, remember the Surplus Lands Act? We do.

    The Surplus Lands Act is a reasonably straightforward law. When a local agency proposes to sell of surplus public land, it is required to offer that land up for non-profit affordable housing development before turning to for-profit developers.Today, CaRLA has joined with East Palo Alto Community Legal Services, San Mateo Housing Leadership Council, and the

    [Continue Reading]

  • Los Angeles wants to landmark a gas station. We would rather see housing.

    Earlier this year, the City of Los Angeles approved 14 units of housing to be constructed at 1650 Silver Lake Boulevard. A quirk of Los Angeles’ process is that any city councilor may submit a property to the Cultural Heritage Commission for historic preservation within 30 days of approval of any demolition of that property.

    [Continue Reading]

  • Why are McMansions being built in Sonoma? Because they want McMansions.

    We get emails. We get a lot of emails. Lately, the emails we’ve been getting are about our lawsuit in Sonoma. A quick refresher: a homeowner wants to build three large homes in a district that only allows large homes, and the city unlawfully denied their application to build large homes. Here is a segment

    [Continue Reading]