Today is Election Day 2020 – Get Out and Vote

Today is Election Day 2020 – Get Out and Vote

By: D. Keith Dunnagan, Esq.

November 3, 2020

Today is election day.A chance to vote for the President of the United States of America. This year, record voter turnout is expected and with such important issues and positions to be passed on, high voter turnout should be encouraged and celebrated.

All of the seats in the House of Representatives will be up in this election, as they are every two years. Additionally, 1/3 of the seats in the US Senate will be up in this election. How this election breaks will determine the course of the federal government for at least two years and possibly four years depending on the outcome of the next midterm election.

In California, not only is the presidential election of import but there are a number of propositions related to real estate that will be of importance on the ballot. Proposition 15 addresses revenue-raising by rolling back a portion of the 1978 Prop 13 protections as it relates to commercial property.

Proposition 19 addresses property tax portability. Which allows individuals over the age of 55 to transfer their property tax basis to a new home outside of their current county so long as they use the property as a primary residence. Currently, individuals can transfer their property tax basis inside their current county but lose their basis if they move outside the current county and only a very few counties allow for out of county property tax portability. Further, this proposition also changes the inheritance basis. Currently, if a person inherits property from their parents or grandparents, there is no re-assessment of the taxes. They can rent the property out and keep the basis the same. Under this proposition, that would change. If passed, in order to maintain the original property tax basis on inherited property, one would have to occupy the property as a primary residence.

Proposition 21 is another rent control measure. As part of this proposition, it seeks to limit how much a landlord can increase the rent when a new tenant moves in. It is an expansive restriction on rent. Right now, a current tenant who remains cannot have their rent raised more than 5% plus inflation, capped at 10%, with certain properties exempted. However, when a tenant moves out and a new tenant comes in, the landlord has the right to increase rent to a market value. This proposition seeks to limit the ability of the landlord to raise rent for new tenants.

Regardless of your stance on the candidates or the ballot measures, one of the most sacred rights of an American is the right to participate in government and the governing process through the ability to vote. Government can only work as intended if the governed participate. This election is your ability to participate. We encourage you to get out and vote. Let your voice be heard and remind all what President Lincoln stated at Gettysburg, that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from this earth.”


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