California Apartment Association and Corporate Landlord Investigated for Shady Campaign Contributions to Kill Prop 33 and Pass Prop 34, Says Housing Is A Human Right

The California Fair Political Practices Commission is now investigating the California Apartment Association (CAA) and a corporate landlord for shady campaign contributions used to kill Prop 33 and pass Prop 34. AIDS Healthcare Foundation and its housing advocacy division, Housing Is A Human Right, filed a complaint about the contributions this past fall, and were recently informed by the FPPC of its decision to move forward. The real estate industry’s slick handling of campaign cash comes as no surprise.

“AIDS Healthcare Foundation and Housing Is A Human Right have battled corporate landlords for years,” says Housing Is A Human Right Policy Director Susie Shannon, “and we know all too well that Californians can never trust Big Real Estate. Corporate landlords and their front group, the California Apartment Association, will do anything to keep charging outrageous rents and grow outsized profits – no matter the consequences to the poor and middle and working class.”

In 2024, AHF and Housing Is A Human Right sponsored Proposition 33, which aimed to repeal statewide rent control restrictions and urgently address California’s housing affordability and homelessness crises. Prop 33 would have allowed cities to pass updated rent control policies and finally rein in predatory landlords – widespread rent gouging after the L.A. wildfires, for example, would have been largely prevented with new rent regulations.

But corporate landlords and the California Apartment Association raised $135.8 million to not only kill Prop 33, but to also pass Prop 34. The latter initiative sought to stop AHF from using certain money for its housing advocacy work. In November 2024, Big Real Estate successfully defeated Prop 33 and barely passed Prop 34.

(Read: “Special Report: California Apartment Association’s Big-Money Schemes to Kill Prop 33 and Pass Prop 34.”)

Both the CAA’s No on Prop 33 and Yes on Prop 34 campaigns were funded by the California Apartment Association Issues Committee, and that’s where the shady contributions were delivered.

Between 2023 and 2024, Housing Is A Human Right found that 13 separate contributions were made to the California Apartment Association Issues Committee by corporate entities that were controlled by the same company, Rafanelli & Nahas, a corporate landlord based in Lafayette, California. Those contributions added up to a significant total: $177,150.

By delivering campaign cash that way, Rafanelli & Nahas were essentially trying to pull a fast one over the public – rather than have Rafanelli & Nahas’ name attached to the 13 contributions, the names of its corporate entities were linked. For example, Amador Lakes III, LP, operated by Rafanelli & Nahas, sent three contributions totaling $50,250 to the California Apartment Association Issues Committee. State law says the corporate landlord can’t do that – the public should know exactly who’s delivering campaign cash and how much is coming from that single contributor.

In addition, Housing Is A Human Right and AHF made the case that the California Apartment Association should have been aware that Rafanelli & Nahas was trying to pull a fast one and not allowed the corporate landlord to file its campaign contributions in such an underhanded way.

On February 4, the California Fair Political Practices Commission informed AHF and Housing Is A Human Right that it will be investigating the matter further.

“AHF and Housing Is A Human Right have always been about holding the California Apartment Association and corporate landlords accountable,” says Susie Shannon. “We’re very pleased that the FPPC has decided to look into this serious abuse of voter trust.”

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