New California Housing Accountability Unit and Attorney General Housing Strike Force

Along with substantial new funding for affordable housing, Governor Newsom recently announced the creation of a new Housing Accountability Unit (HAU) within the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), which is charged with providing technical assistance to local agencies to help them comply with recent laws that mandate housing production, including the Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (SB 330), Streamlined Ministerial Permit Processes (SB 35), the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Law, Accessory Dwelling Unit laws, the Surplus Lands Act, and the No Net Loss Bonus Law.

In addition to technical assistance, the HAU will be charged with enforcing those laws in the event of persistent noncompliance. The state budget includes $4.3 million for the HAU. David Zisser, formerly the Associate Director at Housing California, was appointed to lead the new unit. See the announcement here.

Earlier this year, Governor Newsom signed AB 215, which gave both HCD and the Attorney General more power to enforce existing state housing laws. This month, the Attorney General, Rob Bonta, announced the formation of a Housing Strike Force within the California Department of Justice (DOJ), which will focus on tenant protections, affordable housing, and fair housing laws and provide both enforcement and technical assistance.

The Strike Force will include attorneys from the Land Use and Conservation Section, the Consumer Protection Section, the Civil Rights Enforcement Section, and the Environmental Section’s Bureau of Environmental Justice.

In addition to the Strike Force, the Attorney General announced a series of tenant roundtables throughout the state and a new Housing Portal on the DOJ website that provides resources and information for the state’s homeowners and tenants.