SB 939 is Moving Forward - Take Action Now!
By now, NAIOP members should be aware of proposed California legislation, SB 939 introduced by Senator Scott Wiener (SF), and its potential for having a significant impact on existing commercial leases.
Just a few days ago, SB 939 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on a minimum number of votes.
We remain opposed to the bill as the amendments taken so far do not sufficiently address our concerns. We anticipate a battle once the Legislature continues its discussions and ultimately moves toward a vote before June 26th.
In response to SB 939 passing the Senate Judiciary Committee, Rex Hime, President and CEO, California Business Properties Association released the following statement:
“CBPA members agree that all businesses are hurting due to the government mandated shelter in place order and look forward to working with Senator Wiener on a bill that helps both business renters and property owners. SB 939 does not currently do that. It puts all the burden on property owners and will simply compound the crisis.
“We call on the Legislature to write a bill that helps all businesses and balances the needs of both property owners and commercial property renters."
If SB 939 passes in its current form, this bill would do the following:
1. Enable tenants to not pay rent for up to 12 months.
2. Removes landlords legal remedies to evict tenants for non-payment of rent.
3. Provides tenants with legislated lease termination rights which are not part of their current lease agreement. Further, the termination rights apply to lease guarantors as well.
4. In short, SB 939 negates the terms and conditions of all current commercial leases to the benefit of one business (the tenant’s) at the expense of another business (the landlord’s).
We encourage members to take action by doing the following:
- Learn More About SB 939 and get involved to oppose this legislation.
- Schedule a meeting with your local state Senators and convince them to oppose this unreasonable and unfair bill.
- Mobilize your PR departments to place articles and Op-ed pieces in your local publications to help raise awareness so that this bill can be defeated.
- Send letters opposing the bill to the author (Senator Scott Wiener). Download a Sample.
