"It's like the saying from the movie Poltergeist, 'They're back,'" said Erik Bruvold of the San Diego North Economic Development Council at a recent CREW San Diego event earlier this month. He was referring to a Los Angeles-based group of activists— including Michael Weinstein and his AIDS Healthcare Foundation—that has pushed forward several statewide rent control ballot measures in the last few years.

The latest, on the ballot this November, is Prop 21. The initiative would give local governments the power to place rent control restrictions on housing that was first occupied 15 years ago. Like previous rent control initiatives, the industry is fighting hard against it. "This is an attack by a Los Angeles group to overturn existing law that restricts rent control by local government," said Bruvold at the event. "The law would be taken off the books so rent control could be applied. Be careful what you wish for."

The current statewide law limited rent control restrictions to properties built before 1995, and prevents cities from updating existing date-of-construction rent control ordinances. In Los Angeles, the local ordinance, known as the rent stabilization ordinance, is restricted to units built before 1978. Bruvold says that Prop 21 goes well beyond the current restrictions, including a rent increase tax of 5%+CPI. "You would be restricted to 15% catch up plus local fees allowed, and it only applies to apartments 15 years or older," he said. He also says that the new law would distort rental markets.